Global Corporate Xpansion by Lou Ann Thomas

Quality of life has always been difficult to define. That’s because quality of life means different things to different people. But, with the impending labor force shortage, businesses are trying to figure out where to find high quality workers and quality of life issues are growing more important as an indicator of where those workers might be located or locating.

“We can’t look at the workforce in the traditional way anymore,” says Jon Roberts, managing director, TIP Strategies Inc. in Austin, Texas. “In the past it was assumed industry would locate and then labor would follow. Quality of life was only considered in the degree it was comfortable from the company’s standpoint. What we’re seeing now is that companies have to adapt themselves to where the people are going.”

According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. working age population will fall over a million short of the average annual job creation by 2012. This is mostly the consequence of baby boomers reaching retirement and as a result their participation in the labor force will steadily fall off.

This means for the first time in U.S. history more people will be leaving the labor market than are entering it, Roberts says. “We can expect this to continue for roughly 30 years. In fact, national fertility rates are likely to stay low and this suggests the problem of labor availability will extend beyond the projected 30 years of shortage.”

One of the changes that are occurring because of this shortage is the way the labor force is being defined. More and more emphasis is being placed on education, skills and talent available in the workforce.

“You not only need more young people, you need skilled and educated young people,” Roberts says. “By talking about ‘talent’ we are forced to realize that the greater the education level, the more likely that person is to be mobile. In other words, an educated person is far more likely to consider where they will work. Place matters to them.”

And as the labor force shortage nears, companies will need to locate where the workers already are, Roberts notes. That is why TIP Strategies prefers to look at quality of place, rather than quality of life.

“The difference between the two is that quality of life reflects what current residents’ value,” Roberts says. “Quality of life ultimately reflects the values of and will be skewed around what already exists. Quality of place is a reflection of those who are not native to the area, so you’re not focused on what already exists or how the city is now, but rather on what it could become.”

Focusing on what they can become is something that the Steamboat Springs, Colo. area is doing. In the 2000 census the area noticed a growing number of people who lived there, but received their W-2′s from outside the area.

“Location neutral business is what we call this segment of workers,” says Noreen Moore, business resource director, Routt County Economic Development Corp. One of the things the EDC realized was that this group of workers didn’t know each other and had no way of meeting or networking.
“What we started to do because of this discovery was make watering holes for them so that they see themselves as an industry without walls,” Moore says. “They are incredibly important to our economy and they provide things we want to enhance.”

The EDC has created a Web site for these location neutral businesses and has alerted the city council to this group so they can be considered in future city planning decisions. “In other words, if there is a new library or recreation center planned, it can be configured to include places where remote workers can meet and work,” Moore says.

She estimates the area is presently home to at least 400 location neutral businesses, creating a $35 million industry. “This means these workers are diversifying our economy,” Moore says. “Many are in consulting, and range from rocket scientists to financial portfolio managers. Many earn at least $250,000 a year and they come here because they want to live here.”

Place for these location neutral workers and businesses is the key. These workers are also part of the emerging “creative class,” a term made popular by Richard Florida, in The Rise of the Creative Class.

According to Florida, this new class of workers is the driving force behind community prosperity and a high quality of life, and they are the foundation for the emerging creative economy.

“Over time this creative cluster will take more shape and more meaning,” says Tyler Fairbank, president, Berkshire Economic Development Corp.

Presently, nearly 10 percent of the workforce in Berkshire County is made up of those in this creative economy. Fairbank defines this segment of the local economy as “enterprises and people involved in the production and distribution of goods and services in which aesthetic, intellectual and emotional engagement of the consumer gives the product value in the marketplace.”

Berkshire County has long drawn people to the area because of its natural beauty, but, Fairbank says, the area also has deep cultural roots as well. “There is a cosmopolitan feel to the Berkshires,” Fairbank says. “We have some of the largest cultural venues on the planet here. There are 46 different arts and cultural venues here and they bring a sophisticated person to this area to live, work and visit. A lot of people decide to live here, and then find a job here.”

Place, again, trumps job. And Fairbank is seeing business and industry understand this to an increasing degree. “Businesses and entrepreneurs are capitalizing on knowing that this is a place that attracts reliable and loyal workers,” he says. “People who live here aren’t eager to leave.”

Another area that draws people because of its natural beauty and other amenities is the Columbia County area in New York. The Hudson River runs through the center of the county and helps create a rich, agricultural economic base and a more rural feel to its lifestyle.

“When looking at companies we have much more success talking to one who is a lifestyle type of company,” says Jim Galvin, executive director, Columbia Hudson Partnership. “Our area often appeals to a company that is relocating from a metropolitan area.”

Although Columbia County has a rural flavor, it is located only 120 miles from New York City and because of this proximity allows residents to have a foot in both the rural culture and the excitement and nightlife of the largest metropolitan area in the country. It also is within an easy commute to numerous colleges and universities.

Educational opportunities are another important factor when considering quality of place, as well as quality of life, Roberts notes. “The younger workforce still wants good schools for their children, but they also want continuing education opportunities for themselves and their spouses,” he says. Lifelong learning and continuing education opportunities are a high priority in people’s decisions about where they will live.”

An area that is experiencing an increase in population is Maine. A recent study of the state by the Brookings Institution, identified the state’s “quality of place” as its most vital and attractive asset. Brookings looked at in-state migration and found that Maine was growing, while the other New England states either were not growing or were growing very little.

“Maine can trace many of its new residents from neighboring states,” writes Jeff Sneddon, executive director, MidCoast Council for Business Development & Planning, in an e-mail correspondence. The council markets the communities of Sagadahoc County in central Maine, and the town of Brunswick in Cumberland County. “By and large they are a highly educated and highly functioning demographic who have clearly recognized what Maine offers, and businesses are following suit,” Sneddon says.

Sneddon notes this was the situation with Doug Roberts, the owner of Naturally Me, a pie company. Roberts, who relocated from California, stated that he knew he wanted to live in Maine (he was a frequent visitor to the state) and that he could find the right employees.

Additionally, Naturally Me is located in a Pine Tree Development Zone, which offers tax breaks and other incentives to support business development efforts. The company’s facility is located in proximity to the agricultural areas it needed, as well as a strategic location on an interstate highway. The company has a strong distribution network in the Eastern United States and plans to triple its workforce this fall.

Transportation access is another factor determining where businesses can find younger, educated workforces, who are looking for access to non-stop flights for greater mobility. “We will need more mobility for the future workforce,” Roberts says. “Quality of place is also about networks and how you can access those networks, both physically and technologically. Companies will likely need more than one location to fill jobs, so they will also need greater mobility among those locations.”

Located at the intersection of two expressways and just down the highway from O’Hare International Airport, Schaumburg, Ill., provides this kind of ease of movement. The area also has a number of colleges and universities in the area and recently completed the Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel and Convention Center, a $200 million investment by the village of Schaumburg.

“Quality of life is hard to measure, but we try to offer a variety of options,” says Matt Frank, economic development coordinator, village of Schaumburg. “We have arts, culture, shopping, a minor league baseball team and the country’s largest Improv Comedy Club here. And we’re only a 50 minute train ride to Chicago and all it has to offer.”

These cultural, entertainment and educational offerings, along with proximity to a larger metropolitan area all help to attract and retain young workers, Roberts says. “Businesses are locating in hubs of new corridors that are experiencing a migration of young people. Quality of place thinks outside the box and blows the door off of conventional thinking.”

Lou Ann Thomas is a freelance writer based in Oskaloosa, Kan. E-mail her at writer@louannthomas.com.

For complete details on the organizations featured in this article, visit:

Berkshire (Mass.) Economic Development Corp., www.berkshireedc.com

Columbia Hudson (N.Y.) Partnership, www.chpartnership.com

MidCoast Council for Business Development & Planning, www.mcbdp.org

Routt County (Colo.) Economic Development, www.yampavalley.info

TIP Strategies Inc., www.tipstrategies.com

Village of Schaumburg (Ill.), www.ci.schaumburg.il.us

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