Development group to gauge labor supply, housing needs

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

To move forward it often helps to know where you’re already at. The Charles City Area Development Corp. on Wednesday discussed ways to measure the area’s labor pool and the county’s housing needs.

The group approved doing a laborshed survey to show how much labor is available to area employers, from within Charles City and Floyd County and from far beyond.

“I do know that the first thing that Simple Essentials asked for and the first thing that Mitas Tire asked for was a laborshed,” said Tim Fox, executive director of the CCADC, talking about when those two companies were looking at potentially locating in Charles City.

The latest laborshed study was done in about 2013, Fox said.

The cost of a study would be about $4,200, he said, but that could be cut to less than $2,000 through potential funding from the North Iowa Area Community College, Butler County REC and MidAmerican.

“It’s important for us to know where people are commuting from to get to Charles City,” Fox said.

He said this area has the largest geographical laborshed in Iowa. Accurate information from a laborshed study could be used to show potential employers that Charles City can pull the workers they need from a wide area.

“It is important to perform a laborshed survey because it is the only method concentrating upon the supply, rather than demand, side of the labor equation,” he said.

The CCADC also discussed having a housing needs assessment done. The group is responsible for housing initiatives in Floyd County and Nashua.

“If we’re going to be in the housing game we need to do a housing needs assessment,” Fox said.

He said a senior planner from the North Iowa Area Council of Governments approached Hubbell Realty of Des Moines about the potential of being involved in housing projects in the area, “and they said don’t even talk to us unless you’ve had a national firm do a housing needs assessment,” Fox said the planner was told.

An assessment would cost about $30,000 he said, although it is possible that a grant through the U.S. Department of Agriculture might be available to help with costs.

He also wondered whether Housing Infrastructure Fund money that Floyd County has would be available.

County Supervisor Mark Kuhn, who is the supervisors’ representative on the area development corporation, said he would look into it.