Booming economy changes northern Nevada landscape

For over a year, local media have reported on the booming Reno economy and its labor shortage, especially in the construction,manufacturing and medical fields.

Ever more, newly arrived companies are announcing plans to open facilities with up to 500 employees while existing businesses plan on expansion.

Preliminary data from the Nevadaworks 2005 Occupational Outlook Report show half of all employers surveyed expect their business to increase throughout 2005-2006.

This expansion will continue the need for qualified employees in all fields.

This is not the poorly performing economy national media often report.

As the coordinator of workforce development programs in this area, Nevadaworks is charged with the responsibility of helping employers obtain trained individuals to sustain this growth.

Often, employers have asked Nevadaworks to recruit people to this area to fill their open positions.

While not directly advertising for new employees, the online placement of job openings by JobConnect have often had the effect of bringing job-seeking people into the area.

Now all of that is changing.

A strong source of employment for these jobs during the past several years has been the rural area of northern Nevada.

That is not the case anymore.

Since the middle of last year, rural northern Nevada has seen a dramatic shift in its economy.

Every community in the 13 counties served by Nevadaworks has many business success stories.

Let me share a few: With industrial land becoming more scarce in Reno/Sparks, many companies are looking toward Fernley, Lovelock and Fallon as prime areas to open new facilities.

These communities now offer good job opportunities for individuals who prefer smaller communities over larger cities.

Lovelock is planning for the growth that a recently announced company will provide when its projected employment reaches 1,000 people.

Carry-On Trailers is building a facility in Winnemucca that will employ up to 250 community residents.

Welders and production workers will be needed for these jobs.

Additional mining has resumed near Battle Mountain and in Ely while mines in Elko and Eureka counties plan to expand.

Hawthorne has seen three new companies open operations since the beginning of this year, and by this fall the total number they will employ will be at least 300.

Even tiny Austin on Highway 50 is planning events this summer that will increase tourist visits resulting in more jobs.

Heavy truck drivers are needed everywhere.

These are not temporary jobs and many will bring an end to the boom and bust cycle of previous years.

So how does this affect the Reno, Sparks, and Carson City areas? Until recently, residents of these rural towns would migrate to western Nevada to fill job openings while hoping to return home, if and when the local economy improved.

Now that the jobs exist, many are leaving our area and returning home to very promising, high-skilled, higher paid jobs, thus compounding local employer needs by reducing the total of workers available.

With the growth of population in all rural towns there is a growing need for additional and affordable housing and retail space.

Rural construction companies have a backlog of business and a great need for qualified workers.

With growth, there is a surge in retail demand and a need for more workers.

Infrastructure and governmental needs must be met to handle this growth and many agencies also need employees.

This explosion of new jobs is unprecedented in our recent history and presents workforce challenges demanding immediate solutions.

Strong growth in the rurals is beneficial to everyone wherever they live because it continues the necessary diversification of the entire area economy, while forcing development of solutions that will benefit all workers - now and in the future.

No longer will past solutions suffice, creativity is demanded.

Nevadaworks has been a leader in creating innovative solutions to workforce problems.

We partnered with the University of Nevada, Reno's Orvis School of Nursing and Western Nevada Community College to train nurses more quickly to overcome the nursing shortage.

We funded Workforce Liaisons in three rural communities to help identify employer needs.

Soon there will be new programs to help employers adjust to the changing labor pool of the mid-decade.

Nevadaworks is a major participant in the ever-improving JobConnect system, and even with these and other success stories, more must be done.

With input from the business community, we can continue offering solutions through new training programs with our business and community partners, in addition to seeking ideas from other workforce areas and sharing the story of our booming economy.

You can help by letting friends and family know the multitude of job openings in this area.

Many former Nevadans want to return to their hometowns but are unaware of the changed job picture.

Send them articles on our economy.

Let them know rural Nevada is still a great place to live and work.

Tell them to visit nevadajobconnect.com to view the many thousands of jobs listed in our area.

Workforce needs are not easily solved in a booming economy with tight labor resources.

But the will and skill of all entities working toward a positive result ensures the needs can be met and all will benefit.

The 650,000-plus individuals who call northern Nevada home want to continue growing their work skills for the betterment of their families and communities.

We are in this together and together we will create the needed workforce solutions.

Make a difference Interested in joining executives from amazon.com, Applied Staffing Solutions, Career College of Northern Nevada, Club Cal Neva, Cooper B-Line, Day Zimmermann Hawthorne, First American Title, IPDS, KTVN, Nevada Association of Employers, PC-Doctor, Robinson Equipment, Rose- Glenn Group, SBC, Sierra Pacific, and Wells Fargo on the Nevadaworks Board? Contact Tom Fitzgerald, Nevadaworks CEO, 284-1340, or tcf@nevadaworks.

com for further information.

Tom Fitzgerald is chief executive officer of Nevadaworks, the workforce development agency for northern Nevada.