Southeast Iowa manufacturing firms continue to battle recruitment struggles

As southeast Iowa manufacturing firms continue to grow, finding qualified and skilled workers to fill the growing number of open positions has encouraged companies to search for new workforce pools to meet the need, but also work with their communities to address larger issues.

With low unemployment rates across the region (hovering at just above 2% in Henry, Jefferson and Washington County according to the Federal Reserve Economic Data), attracting new workers to rural-based companies as well as competition for qualified workers already in the area has become heightened.

Lori Schaefer-Weaton, president of Agri-Industrial Plastics Company in Fairfield, said that most companies in her area have been actively hiring for the last four to five years.

'We're very fortunate to have a very strong manufacturing backbone in our town, however there's a limited amount of people in the pool and when you live in a small town, what you really want to do is pull from a 30 mile radius,” she explained.

The company president noted that tackling workforce issues requires a community to come together and look at the issue holistically.

'The community in Fairfield is very active in finding solutions that impact all of us like the parks and rec facilities, the Civic Center, housing, and day care. We're all aware of what the challenges are … and working on initiatives to address those things together is very valuable,” Schaefer-Weaton said.

Across southeast Iowa, community issues such as the availability of housing and affordable child care can affect the growth of businesses, especially manufacturing companies that run 24 hours a day and need a constant stream of workers.

For her company, Schaeder-Weaton pointed particularly to the lack of housing in the area, 'both quality and quantity entry-level housing,” as an inhibitor when it comes to recruitment.

David Collins, director of the Washington Economic Development Group (WEDG), said a community's ability to provide a high quality of life is one of the biggest factors potential employees and employers consider when considering relocation to a rural community.

'People are looking for a high quality of life like solid schools, infrastructure, recreational activities. The area being ready for business and taking care of basics in the community are very important,” Collins said.

Similarly, Josh Laraby the executive director of the Fairfield Economic Development Association (FEDA) pointed out that rural areas may have a difficult time 'competing with the available metropolitan quality of life.” Laraby said instead of competing with larger cities, the focus should be on personalizing the community to the needs of the people, which will ultimately attract and retain workforce.

'What you want is a community for that cohort of [working age individuals]. Making sure you have activities for that group of folks, and if it's families, making sure there are ongoing family-friendly environments and spaces. At-large, you're building a culture,” Laraby said.

In addition to working on building culture, the Fairfield community also surveyed employers to determine specific barriers when it comes to attracting and retaining workforce.

Laraby echoed Schaefer-Weaton's comment that housing, specifically 'housing that has a price point that meets the average wage for the community,” as well as child care, are 'hurdles” for manufacturing firms.

To address those issues, newly established nonprofit Jefferson County Kids is in the process of building a new child care facility in Fairfield, which aims to begin construction later this year. Laraby also said FEDA works actively to connect developers to housing incentives 'which help make development more accessible and lower perceived risk.”

Outside of communitywide issues, manufacturing firms often struggle to fill positions due to a lack of available skilled workers.

Amanda Russell, the human resources manager at Bazooka FarmStar, an agriculture equipment manufacturing company based in Washington, said specific struggles center around 'finding individuals willing to do skilled trades like welding, or people with machine backgrounds.”

'People are just not interested in that type of field,” Russell said.

A negative public perception of automation and fear that robotics will eventually take over human jobs is a pervasive issue manufacturing companies are attempting to address head on.

However, even with a shrinking pool to choose from, Russell credits having strong relationships with local schools, both high schools as well as community colleges and trade schools, as a successful way her company has been able to recruit employees.

'We have good ties with the Kirkwood Academy and we give tours and have students go out to those facilities. We're looking at potentially, speaking to students before them graduating from high school as an area for filling positions in the future,” Russell said.

Other local companies have looked at more unconventional solutions, including the Iowa Prison Industries Program (IPI) and recruitment programs from outside of the country. Carl Frank, director of communications for Lomont Molding LLC in Mt. Pleasant, said the company noticed difficulties adequately sourcing workforce for the plant several years back, which prompted the company to begin a 18-month research period to consider implementing the IPI program.

Currently Lomont has over 40 workers from the local correctional facility working shifts at their plant. Frank also highlighted the company's collaboration with recruitment program Avance USA, which pulls workers from Puerto Rico.

'We're very pleased with the IPI program … we also have Avance USA, that became a source for some of the technical workers that we're looking for,” Frank said, 'We couldn't find that expertise locally or readily and we could from outside the area but by people who really wanted a job and with credentials and stuff. That's how we're looking at it - there are sources for employees that are non-traditional but still very good that will help us get the job done.”