Companies in Walworth County are gearing up for what to do about the proverbial graying of the workforce due to the aging of baby boomers.
A survey by UW-Whitewater Associate Professor of Economics Russ Kashian said 42 percent of county manufacturing companies surveyed expected to replace between 10 to 49 percent of its workforce by 2011 due to retirements. Twelve percent of companies expected more than half of their workforce to retire.
"From the 1960s to the 2000-era, as counties and communities, we competed by trying to attract jobs to the area. What we're facing today are labor shortages," Kashian said. "Now we're trying to attract labor and the best and the brightest.
"I think we have to recognize this problem early. As a manufacturing hub for Wisconsin, we need to make sure we're training the best manufacturing workers. If we don't, someone else will. We sometimes fail to communicate to young people that manufacturing is a career for the future. We need to make sure that the labor stays here."
Kashian's survey estimates the county will replace more than 3,000 workers in manufacturing jobs, or about one-third of the current manufacturing labor force of 9,100 employees. The sector represents 26.5 percent of jobs in a county known mostly for its tourism and agriculture. Manufacturing accounts for 22 percent of the workforce in Rock County, a county known largely for its large production plants, Kashian said.
To gear up for the potential tough times ahead-replacing a competent and established workforce is no easy task-the Walworth County Economic Development Alliance is creating a manufacturing council.
Fred Burkhardt
"It's going to be tough to find workers, period," said Fred Burkhardt, WCEDA executive director. "It's not going to be about recruiting companies (anymore). It's going to be recruiting a workforce."
One in three workers who live in Walworth County actually work outside of the county, Burkhardt said.
"Our objective is to create an environment where we can bring them home," he said. The picture is still emerging as to who is driving out of the county, what they do and what types of jobs that will be opening up in the county."
Once the council starts to develop, those questions should be answered, Burkhardt said.
WCEDA has a list of 30 companies it will invite to participate with the council. The primary goals will be to:
-- Act as a vehicle for the identification and development of programming designed to improve productivity of Walworth County manufacturers.
-- Focus attention on the current status and issues that are facing the industrial and business community.
-- Improve access to manufacturing and industrial innovation and technology.
-- Improve access to financial resources and incentives necessary to enable expansion of facilities, products and related services.
Kashian sees the council as a brainstorming team that can help businesses make new contacts and find efficiencies.
Too often, communities are focused only on developing their own industrial park without learning what businesses other industrial parks are luring, Kashian said.
"Lets say we have a firm that manufactures plastic forks and we have a McDonald's distribution network nearby. Are they using the forks that are made a few miles away," Kashian asked rhetorically. "We don't even know the relationships that might exist in the region that we can look to for efficiencies."
The time is now to start addressing these issues, Burkhardt and Kashian agreed.
"This is a large cohort of people. It's the largest generation in American history, and they will start retiring in two to three years," Kashian said. "Who's going to replace them? If they're not replaced, jobs will have to go overseas. Not because companies want to, but because they will have to."
On tap
The upcoming quarterly "Business Briefs Breakfast," sponsored by the Walworth County Economic Development Alliance, will focus on venture capital.
Peter Zaballos, vice president of Frazier Technology, will explain how it works, how eligibility is determined and present real-time information about how venture capital helps local companies and economies grow.
The breakfast is 7:30 a.m., Thursday, June 7 at Peoples Bank, 837 N. Wisconsin St., Elkhorn. The breakfast is free for WCEDA members and $15 for non-members.
