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Business leaders discuss ways to adapt to changing economy
By: Matthew Ryno
From: Baraboo News Republic
Date: 10/28/2008
WEST BARABOO — With the state of the economy in flux and state support for workers dipping, about 50 business and educational leaders from Sauk County met Thursday at the Park Plaza to learn how to address the problems. Roberta Gassman, secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development joined the group, and painted a bigger picture for the business leaders and educators to work with. Throughout the meeting, presentations from educators helped inform businesses what was available to them, and businesses shared their tips, especially in dealing with new workers. In the end, business leaders and educators came together to discuss possible problems and ways to strengthen Sauk County's economy. Trying times According to a report published recently by the Center on Wisconsin Strategy, Wisconsin lost about 24,000 jobs since June 2007. The median four-person Wisconsin family income has also fallen nearly $6,000 since 2000, three times the national drop. Gassman said the unemployment rate in Wisconsin is at 4.4 percent, compared to the nation's rate of 6 percent. The Sauk County rate is steady at about 3.8 percent. But she noted that sales tax collections, which help fund the state budget, are down. "I can't just whitewash it. The reality is, especially given the national economy, we are in a challenging time in the state, and as we move forward, it will take a lot of tough work from all of us here." Changing business climate Some employers are worried about attracting and retaining young, qualified workers. Bev Shook of Reedsburg-based Pace Industries said it could be tough to find workers to operate their plant 24 hours a day. "In a geographic area such as Reedsburg, what are we doing to keep people under our roof?" she said. "We're producing a piece of plastic — how exciting is that? It's a lot of manual labor, and frankly, quite boring." She said the challenge would be to find a way to attract newer generations of workers who are looking for excitement and flexibility. Wayne Gilmour of MSA Professional Services, said younger generations have different sets of values about careers and their lives in general. "The Rotary, Lions Clubs and traditional things like that don't get it done anymore. There's that connectiveness and hipness to an area that will attract them - even though it's a wonderful environment here. Our job is to attract talent to the area," Gilmour said. Learning to go with the flow Veronica Petty, Reedsburg School District counselor, explained what local schools are doing to educate students on job opportunities. "School counseling is moving in a new direction. Under state law, schools are required to have an improved program of delivery of guidance to all students," she said. One of the biggest components of this new program is a conferencing requirement between counselors, parents and students, in order to define goals early in school. Through the conferences, a learning plan started as soon as elementary school, which can be modified through high school. Baraboo School District Interim Superintendent Crystal Ritzenthaler said the Baraboo school district has already been implementing these conferences starting at the elementary school level. Tom Pleger, University of Wisconsin-Baraboo/Sauk County dean, explained the ways University of Wisconsin programs can help employees or employers. "Suffice it to say, if there is any University of Wisconsin program you're interested in, we're able to explore and bring it to your business," he said. "You virtually have access to just about any program that's offered throughout the state." Marla Gamoran, director of business, industry and community services for the Madison Area Technical College, said the schools will work to adapt programs to the needs of the work force. Finding a solution In small groups, leaders discussed challenges of attracting and retaining talented workers in today's economy. With businesses forced to pinch pennies, employers need to show their workers that they're valued, even if raises aren't as high as they've been in the past. Michelle Dent of Amcore Bank stressed that employees want to feel respected. "Raises aren't what they used to be, and evaluations are entirely different today," she said. Sauk County Supervisor Bill Wenzel said Thursday's session helped bring people and ideas together. "Everyone is so busy doing what they do that they see their job as such a small portion of what they do," he said. "People need to take a step back from the process and say this is how we make the whole machine work," he said. The Sauk County Development Corporation plans to submit a report about what was learned during the meeting and in talks with local business leaders soon.
Copyright © 2008 Baraboo News Republic