Business Success

According to community members, business success is the number one challenge facing Crawford County. 83% of people surveyed said people are leaving Crawford County because of the lack of good job opportunities (see chart above).

But, that’s not all they said. In the spirit of Business Success Week at the Vision (and the final week of our focus series), we’ll take yet another look at what community members had to say:

-“We must diversify our economy”
-“We need to support our business community. The public needs to be aware of what is available within the county”
-“The demand for trained labor is unmet”
-“Collaboration between education system and employers needs to be better”
-“There's no reason for young professionals to come here”
-“We must have more community pride and ownership”
-“Drugs and lack of soft skills are barriers to business development”
-“We need to support entrepreneurship in the county”
-“We need to seriously shift how we promote the county”
-“How can we capitalize on an aging population to expand business?”
-“We need to keep farming alive and well here for future generations”

Key themes that emerged from this topic include:

The need to diversify the economy, lack of promotion of the county, need for business development plan, cost of business, amount of wealth generation, employment training, brain drain and youth outmigration, competition in manufacturing from other geographical areas, entrepreneurial growth, capitalizing on current strengths and agricultural preservation.

Business success and job availability will be discussed during a focus meeting on August 17 at Lowe-Volk Park. Community members who are interested in actively participating in this meeting are invited to call 419.563.1809 or email crawford2020@crawford-co.org. Until then, all community members may take this short survey to provide input on this pressing issue.

As one survey respondent said: “business is vital to the longevity of our county … there must be a positive shift in perspective.”

Workforce Preparation and Education

Approximately 70% of community members who were surveyed during our eight community meetings said Crawford County does NOT have enough trained workers with the skills needed to grow the economy.

Less than 10% of people in Crawford County have attained a bachelor’s degree or higher.

Hence, we’re focusing on workforce preparation and education this week at the Vision.

Let’s take a closer look at participants’ comments from phase one:

-“Schools need to do a better job forecasting industry needs and preparing students for those jobs”
-“We’re losing good kids to jobs elsewhere”
-“The history of good jobs is gone, but we still have an entitlement mentality”
-“We need to tap into the regional technical colleges for more help”
-“We should expand mentoring (programs) to help with life skills”
-“We need to have a workforce that employers want to hire”
-“It’s hard to find a job here even with a good resume”

Key themes that were identified during the meetings are as follows:

Ease of public assistance, work ethic and soft skills, drug and alcohol use among employees, workforce preparation in schools, collaboration within the education system and with businesses, need for entrepreneurial growth, wages, agricultural sustainability, life skills training, “brain drain” and need for higher education rates.

An issue-specific meeting dedicated to workforce preparation and education will be held on August 16. If you are interested in actively participating in this meeting, call 419.563.1883 or email crawford2020@crawford-co.org for more information or to RSVP.

Those who do not wish to participate in the meeting can still get involved in the process by taking this short survey. Responses will be discussed during the issue-specific meeting to help begin crafting a plan for the betterment of Crawford County’s workforce and education system.