.bodytext {float: left; } .floatimg-left-hort { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right: 10px; width:300px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 10px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} Heather Kleis spent the morning listening to Gov. Chet Culver and other state officials outline the issues surrounding Iowa’s growing workforce shortage. But the afternoon was her chance to discuss the issues, along with about 500 other participants from across the state at the 2007 Governor’s Workforce Summit.

“I’m impressed with the effort to bring together not only governmental agencies but also businesses to discuss this issue,” said Kleis, a human resource adviser with ING Groep N.V. in Des Moines. “Our intent was really to come to better learn about the challenges on a broader level, and find out how our challenges are alike or different from what others are facing.”

She was among several representatives of large Central Iowa employers who attended the summit, held Dec. 18 at the Polk County Convention Complex. Hosted by the governor’s office with the departments of education, workforce development and economic development, the daylong conference included a two-hour series of roundtable discussions by participants on five broad workforce issues.

The summit represents an initial effort to address Iowa’s challenge of recruiting and training enough workers to fill the thousands of additional skilled positions expected to be created in the state over the next several years. According to one estimate, 100,000 positions could go unfilled by 2012.

Iowa’s challenges are particularly daunting as it competes with other states for workers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported that growth of the nation’s work force will slow to 8.5 percent over the next 10 years, compared with 13.1 percent between 1996 and 2006.

Culver, who plans to make the summit an annual event, said 2007 “has overall been a very good year in making progress on this workforce challenge.” Among the year’s accomplishments, he said, was his appointment of Elisabeth Buck as the new Iowa Workforce Development director, and ongoing work by a legislative interim committee studying the workforce shortage.

“This (summit) is kind of a natural progression here to take the next step, which is a definitive, long-term plan for the state,” he said.

Among the themes emerging from the breakout sessions: Iowa must do a better job in communicating its workforce strengths and its career opportunities both inside the state as well as to potential job-seekers around the country. It must also deal with “disconnects” between the current education system and employers’ needs.

Culver said additional public-private partnerships will be needed to address some of the challenges.

“We need the businesses to tell the community colleges, for example, where they anticipate their shortfall areas,” Culver said. “We know in Central Iowa, for instance, we don’t have enough welders to meet current demand. So does that mean we have to ramp up the trades programs at the community colleges or the apprenticeship programs? How can we break through that logjam?”

The shortfall in nursing training programs, which has created waiting lists up to two years long to enter nursing programs in some parts of the state, is another example, he said.

“We really don’t have a long-term plan right now to deal with the kinks, if you will, in the system,” Culver said. “The idea is to streamline the process, anticipate the shortages and devise ways to make sure we have the work force now and in the future.”

Buck said though Iowa has “a great system in place right now to train people,” the processes need to be fine-tuned to enable underemployed or unemployed residents to earn certificates in new skills or to receive money to assist them in retraining. Her department will use input from the summit participants to consider new approaches, she said.

ING’s Kleis said her company is interested in learning about approaches other Iowa businesses have taken to address the state’s brain drain.

“Part of that is providing a fulfilling work opportunity for (employees),” she said. “Hearing ideas about bringing them back or bringing new people to Iowa is certainly a desired outcome of this.”

Participating in a workforce diversity breakout session, Kleis shared ING’s experience in establishing employee networks for five minority groups within the company.

“I’m pleased that ING has been doing that, because I’m hearing through these sessions that not everyone has the resources to allow these kinds of employee networks to truly flourish in their organization,” she said.

Iowa Workforce Development is expected to issue a formal report summarizing issues and recommendations from the summit within the next two to three months.

An initial summary from the summit’s breakout sessions is expected to be available soon at www.iowalife-changing.com/summit/.