As Washington County’s labor force continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, issues of attracting employees and retention have been a priority of the Washington Economic Development Group (WEDG).

WEDG Executive Director Mary Audia hosted a roundtable discussion this month with human resources executives from local manufacturing companies Bazooka-Farmstar, LLC., Brava Roof Tile, CIVCO Medical Solutions, and Atlas Roofing. Audia shared the impetus for this discussion, “When I go out and visit with business and industry, the number one thing is, ‘Mary, we need workforce, we need workforce.’ Everywhere you go, ‘We need workforce.’ And I think we hear that across Iowa, that’s a problem across our state, but we want to come up with solutions for what we have control over.”

Each executive shared their successes and challenges in recruiting and retaining employees. Amanda Russell from Bazooka-Farmstar said a challenge for them has been finding those qualified for skilled labor positions, while employers like Atlas Roofing and Brava Roof Tile are hiring those with little to no manufacturing experience and are attracted in hiring high school graduates. Michael McVey of CIVCO commented that hiring employees can feel like “robbing from each other” with other area companies. Hollie Trenary of Brava Roof Tile says they are looking to hire 30-40 general labor people in the coming year.

Audia wrapped up the discussion commenting on the pandemic’s impact on the workforce, “With this whole COVID thing, one of the silver linings is people are realizing they can work from anywhere basically and live anywhere. So we might see a big migration move to the Midwest, and some of those folks, maybe one of them’s working remotely but somebody else is going to need a job like in a manufacturing plant. I have a feeling there’s going to be a migration to the Midwest, that’s what I’m hoping as well.”

In attracting new employees Russell commented that their unsponsored Facebook advertisements have helped them the most, while McVey stated that a large sign on Highway 1 in Kalona has gotten people’s attention in the past. Audia and the other HR executives look to meet quarterly to discuss developments.