Published: October 18, 2009 12:39 am      

Workforce development: a strategy that works

There has been a major trend in economic development in recent years that can probably best be summed up using a professional sports analogy: states and local communities across the country have been the team owners, economic developers have been the agents, and the businesses looking to expand have been the talented prospective athletes.

States and communities have offered huge tax breaks and incentives to lure jobs to their areas, in much the same way star athletes are offered hefty signing bonuses. Economic developers have leveraged more incentives, including utility deals, and acted as a liaison between the companies and communities — similar to the way agents market their athletes and sell their talents to teams. And businesses — like star athletes — have had the luxury of sitting back and being pretty selective in where they expand or start up.

For some communities, especially those with appealing locations who are willing to up the ante, that strategy has been a good one. Some have seen businesses come to town with everything they promised, sparking the local economy and providing people jobs. If that star athlete comes to a franchise and puts up big numbers and takes the team to the Super Bowl, it looks like a smart investment.

But what if the star athlete blows out a knee and never plays a down? What if that $10 million signing bonus only sells a few hundred season tickets or some t-shirts?

That's why the strategy hasn't worked so well in some communities.

For those, they've put up taxpayer dollars only to see businesses vanish or not produce what they promised.

In this strategy, a lot can go wrong. Look no further than Lauderdale County as an example. The taxpayers of Lauderdale County put up $10 million to help lure a budding timber company. In theory, it was a great idea that would use an available resource, young pines, and turn them into jobs and local dollars.

The problem: the country fell into a recession and construction declined. The idea stalled and the business has never materialized. So county taxpayers are left with a ready industrial site — and a $10 million loan to pay — and only a handful of jobs.

A strategy that does make sense: workforce training.

Meridian Community College understands that. That's why they purchased the old Wal-Mart building on Highway 19 near the school and are working with the local business community, the West Alabama-East Mississippi Regional Initiative and the East Mississippi Business Development Corp. to turn it into the new workforce development center, where they equip job-seekers with the skills they need for industrial jobs.

That, probably more than tax incentives and other benefits, will help land big job-makers to the area. In workforce training, the investment is immediately recognized in individuals. It does more than simply help an area lure jobs; it strengthens the knowledge and skills of its people. It's an investment in minds, not dirt.

“When a community goes about the task of recruiting new industry, it has been my experience that the foremost concern of any prospect is that community’s ability to deliver a well-trained workforce," said MCC President Dr. Scott Elliott. "Yes, there are a lot of elements of a community that a prospect will take into consideration from shopping to recreation to the arts to roads and schools. But if you can’t assure a prospect that you can produce a workforce that is going to cause their business to succeed, all of those other elements become moot points.”

The center already has provided one local business with a targeted skill set for workers. A year ago, MCC and Lockheed Martin joined forces to teach aircraft assembly skills at the new center.

Gov. Haley Barbour said it's a method that works. Barbour told The Meridian Star he was proud of MCC's commitment.

"Providing a wider array of training opportunities for our citizens is the right approach during these difficult times and the key to Mississippi's economic growth in the future," said Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour. "By developing this new center, Meridian Community College is underscoring its commitment to high quality workforce development and job training, a commitment that will pay huge dividends for workers and the state as a whole."

Available workforce has never been a problem in East Mississippi; we have the workers. There are more than 78,000 people in Lauderdale County, and more than 232,000 residents within a 45-mile radius. In a 65-mile radius, there are 12,700 unemployed, some 13,300 underemployed and 3,400 who would re-enter the job market. So the available workers are there; they just need to be trained. And they need the jobs.

MCC's workforce development center does just that.

“The death knell in recruiting new industry for any community is to speak to a prospect in terms of what you’re planning to accomplish, whether it’s an industrial park or interstate access or a workforce training center," Elliott said. "You are competing against communities that already have those things in place. They’re not planning to accomplish anything; they’ve already done it.  In that respect, our goal at MCC is to have a training center that people like Wade Jones and Skip Scaggs can showcase to new industry in the recruitment process.”

  The best thing about MCC's approach: it doesn't rely as heavily on the national economy or start-up businesses for success.

“A well-trained workforce is like the foundation of a house. If you don’t have a strong foundation, then you’re going to have lots of cracks. At MCC, our goal is to be part of the solution. We want to help our community build a solid economic foundation.”