(Spencer)– Representatives of member entities of the Iowa Lakes Corridor Development Corporation gathered this (Tuesday) afternoon in Spencer to sign a proclamation recognizing October as Manufacturing Month. Curt Strouth, CEO of The Corridor, says many don’t realize the fact that 80 percent of community growth comes from manufacturers who are already present…
“So if you think about that, those who are already employed, set roots in our communities, that’s where primarily the majority of our growth is going to happen from. So it makes it even more important that we’re sitting here having these conversations today on addressing the needs of those manufacturers so they can grow here. Because you can go chase another manufacturer to come in and buy a couple of acres of ground and employ a couple hundred people, which on the outside that sounds awesome, it sounds great. But those local manufacturers that are already here are probably going to come to your city council meeting or to the County Board of Supervisors or to our office, and say okay, that’s all fine and dandy. What are you going to do about my 50 open jobs that I have here at Rosenboom Machine and Tool or Tyson or whatever. Those are people who are already invested in our economies and our communities and they need help filling that workforce. So economic development has changed a little bit because of that.”
There was also discussion at Tuesday’s event around some of the ongoing challenges for businesses and industries in the region. Strouth says they continue to revolve around workforce, housing, and daycare…
“You can always ask yourself what comes first? That’s always a tough question to answer, too. I mean what comes first? The housing to draw the workforce, get the workforce to fill these jobs and bring in the housing on the backside? What if we don’t have daycare that lets the trailing spouse enter the workforce because daycare costs are too high. I mean those are all issues that we’re dealing with and there’s no perfect answer to any of those. That’s a challenge that we’re faced with.”
Representatives from cities and boards of supervisors from throughout the four county area served by the Corridor were on hand for Tuesday’s event.
