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Peoria region seeing progress in workforce development, as push to close qualification gaps continues

A "Now Hiring" sign is seen on a business in Massachusetts in a 2021 file photo.
Elise Amendola/AP
/
AP
A "Now Hiring" sign is seen on a business in Massachusetts in a 2021 file photo. A dedicated effort to develop the Peoria region's workforce is making progress, but gaps remain.

Efforts to meet the Peoria area's workforce needs are continuing to make strides, but some qualification gaps still remain as the region aims to boost the economy and get people trained for careers.

In its sixth year of existence, the Regional Workforce Alliance (RWA) is working to develop and employ strategies to “upskill” unemployed and under-employed adults while offering workforce exposure to high school students.

“Even though we've made a lot of progress, companies still have job openings that they are struggling to fill,” said Illinois Central College president Sheila Quirk-Bailey, who co-chairs the RWA. “The biggest gaps right now are in healthcare and manufacturing, although there are gaps everywhere.”

Steve Stewart is the director of people and culture for Morton Industries, a tubular and sheet metal fabrication business that's been in operation locally for nearly 80 years.

“Workforce is always a very important part of what we do, no matter what,” Stewart said. “It's always, for us, about getting the right people. So that is the most critical.”

Stewart says the company had been doing some steady recruiting prior to 2020 to fill positions as the business was growing. Then their employment needs peaked amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“At one point, we probably had 150 openings, and we have a workforce in the Morton, Illinois, area of about 650 employees," he said. "So having that many openings was, yeah, it was challenging.”

Steve Stewart of Morton Industries stands in front of the WCBU banner in the station's master studio.
Joe Deacon
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WCBU
Steve Stewart, the director of people and culture at Morton Industries, says the company used several different "recruitment lanes" to meet their employment needs after job vacancies peaked amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Stewart says to rebuild its workforce, the company used multiple “recruitment lanes” beyond simple advertising, such as apprentice programs, referral incentives for existing employees and offering part-time positions.

One of those programs was working with Skills USA in Pekin to bring in high school students over age 16.

“We had upward right of 25 to 30 high school students working in our plan at one time, and what a great avenue, what a great opportunity,” Stewart said. “They added a lot of value. They helped us through a really tough time when we needed a lot of people, and we still have Skills USA apprentice students in our company today.”

Stewart says the workforce development efforts have aided their hiring ability to a point where they’re now down to around 10 vacancies, in a variety of areas, from welding to working in the paint department to sales and purchasing.

“I think that manufacturing is becoming a cool career again,” Stewart said. “The technology we have, how clean, how bright, and computerized all of our machines that we have – and it pays well. So I think the students see this as a great opportunity to get into a career.”

Stewart says the Peoria area’s dedicated focus on workforce development deserves credit for helping people find employment across many job sectors. Chris Setti, CEO of the Greater Peoria Economic Development Council, says workforce development is at the heart of economic development.

“We consistently hear from our existing businesses that their number one barrier to growth or to success is having the right number of people – right? – the right people at the right time with the right skill set,” Setti said.

“When we are talking with potential investors into the region who might be coming here, the number one question they always ask is, what does your talent pipeline look like?”

Quirk-Bailey says that since the Regional Workforce Alliance was established in 2018, the number of adults in the region with post-secondary job credentials increased from 40% to 43%.

Sheila Quirk-Bailey, Illinois Central College president
WCBU
Sheila Quirk-Bailey, Illinois Central College president

“Unfortunately, the number of jobs that require that went up to 65% (from 60%), and in the meantime, 4% of the population has left – and they all had degrees. So if we could have held onto our population, we actually would have moved that needle by seven basis points,” Quirk-Bailey said.

“Regardless, we're working together now to where we're actually, for the first time, moving forward in a positive direction into taking the people we have available and helping them move to the jobs that are available.”

In her recent State of the City speech, Peoria Mayor Rita Ali emphasized the importance of getting people into the available jobs.

“Our education and training partners are critical to developing the workforce that our employers need,” said Ali, noting that one goal in the city's new five-year strategic plan is to increase the labor force by 3% annually.

This week, ICC announced the launch of new programs in high demand fields such as construction management, cyber security, and artificial intelligence. Quirk-Bailey says it's imperative to consider the community's long-term job needs.

“I don't want someone to come and earn a degree in something that is not going to be available in 10 years. That doesn't quite seem fair,” she said. “I also don't want someone to spend their hard-earned dollars and time to credential in something that is still going to pay minimum wage, because they could have walked in and got that job without any credential.”

Setti says a critical piece to getting people trained to enter a growing workforce is knowing precisely what positions employers are looking to fill.

“A lot of the work we've done with upskilling is in identifying what are the needs of our companies, not just now but in the very near future,” Setti said. “Where are they seeing that they're going to have retirements or other rescissions? And how are we identifying early on where those opportunities are going to be so that we're preparing people for the jobs that are there.”

Quirk-Bailey points out that getting people qualified for careers is only one part of expanding the employment base.

“Many of our programs, we are focusing on individuals of poverty. The reason they're in poverty is that they do not have a marketable skill set that pays a family-sustaining wage,” she said. “Once you put a program together that does that for them, and then you include the wraparound services – is it transportation? Is it childcare? What does it take to get them through a program? Now they have a good job, but like I’ve said, that first paycheck does not solve all of the barriers that they had coming out of poverty.”

Quirk-Bailey highlighted progress ICC is making through it’s workforce equity initiative in helping people find that path to a career.

“We have completion rates in the 70-percents, which is more than double the national average, and we're only providing certifications in careers that pay 30% above the regional living wage,” Quirk-Bailey said. “So we're moving them out of poverty – plus some, right? We think we're on a really strong trajectory to make a difference; we have been making a difference.”

Joe Deacon is a reporter at WCBU and WGLT. Contact Joe at jdeacon@ilstu.edu.