Northeast Missouri Development Partnership Commissions Workforce Studies

The Northeast Missouri Development Partnership (NMDP) retained the Growth Services Group, a national workforce intelligence and consulting firm, to conduct two surveys of area employers. The scope of work included one survey for industrial employers as well as a second survey of healthcare providers in the region; culminating in two reports.

The goal of the surveys is to evaluate the area’s workforce from the employers’ perspective. The results will be used to identify and address workforce issues within the region and take steps to assure that the needs of the area employers are being met, both now and in the future.

Local employers were asked to provide information about their employee base, including wages, salaries, benefits, commuting distances, skill levels and their experiences when hiring new workers. The findings were reported in aggregate to assure individual responses remain confidential.

The survey was sent to employers electronically, and it was designed to be user friendly and take approximately 30 minutes to complete. “We encouraged all those receiving the survey to participate; higher participation rates enable us to identify and address issues that are of importance to our employers” added Carolyn Chrisman, NMDP Treasurer.

GSG CEO Corey Mehaffy added, “We appreciate the NMDP Region employers’ willingness to participate in the survey and provide meaningful data for workforce planning. As an example, we had an excellent response rate at 77.6% for the Industry survey which resulted in extremely reliable data.”

Mehaffy indicated that the purpose of assessing the workforce is to provide employers with labor information necessary to make better-informed decisions for private investment that minimizes risks for hiring, retaining, and developing the workforce.

Mehaffy added, “The NMDP findings revealed a number of affirmative attributes including a positive outlook for employment during the next year with 27 percent of employers expecting an increase in employment and 65 percent remaining steady, a stable and mature workforce with 86 percent of employees with the same firm for four years or more, a large available workforce of 43 percent within 10 miles of their place of work and 81 percent within 30 miles and a reported turnover rate of less than 6 percent for 47 percent of employers

According to Chrisman, It is the Northeast Missouri Development Partnership’s mission to attract quality businesses to the region from around the world, and to maintain foundational efforts to improve the region’s competitiveness.

Formed in 2008, the NMDP represents cities, counties and organizations in the Northeast Missouri region. The main purpose of NMDP is to create jobs and increase the capital investment of the region. NMDP has a presence on the regional, state, and national level with an emphasis on marketing the region to prospective new industry, networking, economic development, education, and providing a common voice on issues that affect the region.