News : 'Laborshed' study a step toward developing stronger area work force

The Benton Development Group has been working with the Iowa Workforce Development’s Regional Research Bureau to complete a Laborshed employment study for the Benton County area. This study will develop the potential labor force from which the Benton County area employers draw their employees based upon commuting patterns into the region. The study will assist existing and potential new businesses in better understanding the areas labor force and characteristics regardless of political boundaries.

Our Laborshed boundary is based on the place of residence of individuals working in the Benton County area. For the success of this study, we have asked employers in the Laborshed area to provide aggregate counts of their employees by ZIP code by place of residence. This reporting will give us a good understanding of where each community’s worker force resides.

Once that Laborshed area is determined, a confidential household telephone survey will be conducted in those areas. The questions will cover topics like: employment status, wages, benefits, education, and occupation. Survey results were then applied to demographic data to develop a total potential labor force of the Laborshed as well as estimates for various labor force characteristics.

The results for each county and regional analysis can be found at http://www.iowaworkforce.org/lmi/labsur/index.html. If you have any question about the Laborshed employment study project, please contact Ryan Murphy at 515-281-7505 or Ranae Becker 319-472-5545.

This project has the support of Benton Development Group, City of Vinton, Vinton Unlimited, City of Belle Plaine, and Belle Plaine Community Development Commission; financially possible by Benton Development Group, City of Vinton, Vinton Unlimited, and regional partneres.

Thank you for your support.