Even with a weak economy, it’s not just a paycheck that draws workers

A first-person article in the Sunday New York Times talks about just the conundrum that many creative class workers are facing: is work about the biggest paycheck possible or should it be about something else.

In this article, Pamela Skillings talks about the choices she finally faced up to: “My big paycheck was making me miserable. In short, I hated my job, but I was afraid to give up my hard-earned six-figure salary for what I really wanted: a career as an entrepreneur.”

Skillings eventually bites the bullet and joins the ranks of people who find happiness in other ways than just a big paycheck. While her career move was not from one location to another, it did involve a lot of the same kinds of decisions that places like Duluth Superior need to have fall in their favor.

Finding Workers, Not Jobs will be the Next Economic Problem

As many who follow the economy realize, the United States is about to go into a very strange period where many current workers retire but many fewer people come into the workforce. Workforce development specialists have been calling out about the problem for years, but it’s only recently beginning to come to the attention of the general public.

In the Duluth Superior area, several groups have been working on making sure that we’re a competitive area to attract workers — and therefore future economic development — for several years. Duluth’s Mayor, Don Ness, even sponsored a city task force in 2007 to address the issue. The issue is also at the core of economist Richard Florida’s ideas about the future of the economy, though many economists understand the issue from similar perspectives.

The New York Times on Saturday has a story about what Iowa is having to do to attract workers. In part, the article talks about the steps that employers are having to make in Iowa to attract and retain workers. One example: “Stacy Berenguel, 28, a financial advisor at Citi Smith Barney, said that while she was very conscious of talk of a national recession, some of her friends in Iowa were switching jobs over company amenities, like fitness centers.”

But the issue is about more than amenities. The Times articles says: “The state provides a small, advance view of what some economists predict will be a broader shortage of skilled workers in the next 20 or 30 years, as tens of millions of baby boomers retire from the workplace, and the economy produces more new jobs than workers. Potential consequences include slower economic growth and competitiveness, as well as higher wages for skilled workers and greater inequality.”

The issue is highly contentious because some groups — fearing immigration — want to downplay the possible shortage.

The Duluth Superior area already has several groups working on understanding the consequences for the region and thinking of ways to make the area more attractive to workers. The whole Knight Creative Communities Initiative is about making the area more attractive to workers, but it builds off of earlier work done by The Northland Works Partnership and the Attracting and Retaining Young Adults Task Force of the Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation.

Portland Struggling with Diversity and Gentrification

The New York Times today has an article about Portland’s struggle with gentrification and diversity. The article talks about how despite Portland’s surface liberalism, African Americans in the city are relatively low in numbers and feel shut out.

From the article: “I’ve been really upset by what I perceive to be Portland’s blind spot in its progressivism,” said Khaela Maricich, a local artist and musician. “They think they live in the best city in the country, but it’s all about saving the environment and things like that. It’s not really about social issues. It’s upper-middle-class progressivism, really.”

Keeping Young Adults on the Front Burner for Duluth

The Duluth News Tribune ran a series of opinion articles on whether and how Young Adults make the decision on whether to stay in Duluth or move away.

Local book publisher Tony Dierckins suggests that college students needs to use more creativity when they are looking for jobs, and not just take what’s easily given to them: “If their perfect job can’t be found on Superior Street, they could see if they can’t create some opportunities on their own.”

In their staff editorial, The News Tribune says that the Northland can still be a closed place, but praises efforts like KCCI and FUSE Duluth’s College Connections Program.

One young Minneapolis resident complains that he wants to live in Duluth, but there aren’t stable jobs here. On the other hand, as a K-12 teacher, he’s in one of the areas of the economy that’s struggled the most. Duluth’s job market has grown in the last few years, in both the number of jobs and in the wages paid for those jobs. But it’s grown best in a few areas where training and education are key: aviation manufacturing, health care, higher education, and professional and technical services.

Finally, Amy Swanoski, a UWS graduate, writes that she will stay in the area because her family is here to support her. She’s in another area — media — where the economy and the economy haven’t been good either.

To look at some of the efforts going on around town, take a look:

The Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation’s Attracting and Retaining Young Adults Task Force

FUSE Duluth

Bike to Work Day Wrap Up

Bike to Work Day, May 16, in Duluth was spectacularly successful.

Read, see the coverage.

The News Tribune has a front page story here, as well as an editorial here.

You can also see a video of coverage from KBJR’s coverage here.

And some blog coverage here.

Community Foundation Celebrates 25 Years

The Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation is celebrating its 25th Anniversary today at their annual meeting at the DECC. Read the story from the News Tribune.

The KCCI project was hosted by the Community Foundation in Duluth-Superior, but you should take a look at the other great initiatives sponsored or hosted by the organization here.

Bike to Work Around the Country Updates

Remember that Friday, May 16 is Bike to Work Day in Duluth. Rally at 9 a.m. in Minnesota Power Plaza. Free DTA bus rides for people with bikes. Panel discussion on the future at 2 p.m. in the Holiday Inn.

How is Bike to Work Day and week going elsewhere in the country.

In Minneapolis, events have been happening all week.

Click here for more news from Minneapolis.

The San Francisco Bay Area is always a hotbed for exciting things around bicycles and community. Read this.

A Washington DC update is here.

But it’s not just restricted to the big cities. Take a look at this effort in New Hampshire and Vermont to get people out of their cars and onto bicycles.

Here’s a national organization’s set of links and events.

Bike Friday.

Friday, May 16 is Bike to Work Day in Duluth

Bike to Work Day
Friday May 16, 2008

Free DTA bus rides for bicyclists
Use of the YMCA for bike storage & showers
Events:

Rally:

Minnesota Power Plaza
(corner of Superior St and Lake Ave)
Refreshments, bike safety checks & bicycle info.
7:00am-9:00am

Bike in Duluth - Panel Discussion
Downtown Holiday Inn, Lake Huron Ballroom
Light, healthy appetizers will be served (vegetables, fruit, cheese, etc.)
2:00pm-4:00pm

Free DTA Rides are offered to anyone to bikes and buses on Friday.

Check out the DTA Website Here.

Universities getting more respect as economic drivers

The magazine Governing, the monthly feature magazine for elected officials published by Congressional Quarterly, has a story this month about the different ways that universities can drive the economy of regions. The article focuses on the impact of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, but also delves into the growing realization that universities drive the economy of regions in more ways than many communities previously realized.

Not only do the universities produce technology for local companies to benefit, but they draw additional investment to an area, bring in fresh talent, and are generally better than average employers.

In Northeast Minnesota, colleges and universities (both the 4-year and the 2-year variety) have proved to be good employers, with both the number of jobs and the wages growing at much better than average. See an article here.

Green Businesses Struggle to Find Talent

A new report in the Economist magazine talks about the great demand for executives and other top talent for companies responding to the Green movement.

In the article, Peter Rothstein, a venture capitalist, says “A lack of talent, especially entrepreneurial talent, was one of the biggest bottlenecks to growth we identified in the clean-tech industry.”

Read the whole article here. To counter the problem, some of the venture capitalists have set up a special training program to teach entrepreneurs what they need to know about the science, the government regulations, and the unique financing required in the clean energy business.

But also look at some of the excitement growing in the Twin Ports through programs like those set up by Sustainable Twin Ports.