On Wednesday, April 3 a large group of local elected officials, business and economic development leaders gathered at Market Café to hear from Dr. Sharon Younger, of Younger Associates, concerning their study of the current workforce in Winston County and the surrounding area.
Younger stated that the aim of the study was to provide knowledge and information to help existing employers to grow and to attract other businesses and industries that will complement the existing businesses. She added that they look for ways to grow business and the economy to help create sustained growth and job opportunities.
Younger stated that the most discussed topic in economic development today, all across the country, is workforce. And employers are having a hard time attracting and retaining the workers they need to be effective and productive.
The Workforce Analysis looked at three main questions: 1) The current state of the workforce; 2) How to expand the existing workforce; 3) Target industries that fit and benefit existing businesses and industries.
The study looked at the Winston County Labor Shed which includes Attala, Choctaw, Kemper, Leake, Lowndes, Neshoba, Noxubee, Oktibbeha and Winston Counties. The data shows that Winston County is an ‘out-commuter’ county, meaning there are more people who drive from Winston to other counties for work, than those who drive into Winston County for work.
The data shows that each day more than 1.7K people drive to the other counties in the Labor Shed area, and less than 800 drive into Winston County. This is a labor pool that is available to local employers and is an opportunity to increase the labor force by keeping more people at home. Looking at the entire Winston County Labor Shed there is a population of 227K to recruit from.
Younger also pointed out that excellent K-12 education is essential to workforce development. The good news is that Winston County ranks above the Mississippi and national averages in this category. However, many of these people do not have the skills to work in the current industries.
Winston and the surrounding counties have traditionally been low-wage areas, ranking 27.5%-38% below the national averages. Younger said that their surveys showed that most people would be willing to change jobs for as little as an additional fifty cents per hour.
In spite of these challenges Winston County has a tremendous talent pipeline in that it is situated within 100 miles of 20 higher education institutions, including colleges, universities and technical schools with more than 25.7K completions each year.
Another plus is that Winston County has several well-established industries already in place, including: Taylor Group, Winston Plywood & Veneer, Winston Medical Center, Polo Custom Products, Choctaw Glove and Kloeckner Metals.
Concerning target industries, the study took into account existing businesses: who is already here, what do they do, what products do they turn out, and what businesses would be complementary to those. It also took into account a survey of existing sites and locations.
They also looked at industries that would have an average annual wage of $42.5K, as the aim is to increase the economy and standard of living, not bring it down.
Some of the target industries suggested by the study are: wood products manufacturing, fabricated metal products, machinery manufacturing, construction machinery manufacturing, food products, transportation equipment manufacturing, industrial building construction and textile mills.
