Iowa Workforce Development, in partnership with Lee County Economic Development Group, received a “2007 Excellence in Economic Development” award from the International Economic Development Council. A panel of economic development experts selected the winners and awarded the Laborshed Study the excellence award in the population category of 50,000 to 200,000. The official award will be presented during the 2007 IEDC Annual Conference this September.
“Laborshed studies provide community economic developers and existing or prospective employers a flexible tool to understand the local labor market and make informed expansion and site selection decisions,” indicated Iowa Workforce Development interim director Dave Neil.
A Laborshed is defined as the area or region from which an employment center draws its commuting workers. Laborshed studies show the distribution of the workers irrespective of natural or political boundaries. Laborsheds also address underemployment, the availability and willingness of current and prospective employees to change employment within the workforce, current and desired occupations, wages, hours worked and distance willing to commute to work.
The IEDC is the world’s largest organization for economic development professionals, with over 4,500 members from 18 different countries. Iowa is represented with 88 different member organizations.
Leave a comment