The Upper Peninsula Collaborative Development Council (UPCDC), which consists of local economic and community development organizations and planning agencies from across the U.P., as well as Michigan Works and InvestUP, has retained the consulting services of TIP Strategies, Inc. to commence a first-of-its kind comprehensive Upper Peninsula county-by-county labor market study.
The study will address several key areas including measuring wages & benefits, workforce shortages, seasonal employment impacts, commuter trends, barriers to employment and impact on jobseeker considerations, and retention, expansion, and attraction of business, investment, and talent.
The study will also focus on researching existing workforce infrastructure, providing industry training projections, and identifying resources and best practices for greater economic prosperity.
“The largest challenge we all have in common across the U.P. is the declining labor pool. A comprehensive U.P.‐wide labor market study will help not only each county but the region as a whole understand workforce and economic impacts and implications related to specific industry sectors prevalent in their communities. If we are going to grow the labor pool, we need to understand what is keeping people from working, what needs to happen to reverse the trend, and how we can impact this change,” said InvestUP CEO Marty Fittante.
Echoing this sentiment, Upper Peninsula Michigan Works! CEO Bill Raymond added, “This Labor Market Study will aid our organization, service providers, and most importantly the private sector to zero in on impactful measures to retain the talent that resides here and attract the working families we need to sustain the in-demand needs of U.P, employers now and into the future.”
TIP Strategies Senior Partner Jeff Marcell spoke to their unique organizational strengths. “This is an exciting project for our firm. TIP Senior Consultant, Elizabeth Scott, is located in Houghton and will be serving as the project manager and I am thrilled to be the principal-in-charge for this effort. Our team has led a number of projects in Michigan in recent years and has a strong appreciation for the unique quality of life and amenities that the UP offers. We look forward to working with the region to develop data-driven strategies to strengthen and diversify the regional economy.”
Funding for this project comes from a Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) grant, as well as a matching funds grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA). The study will begin this October, and the results will be completed and made available in late spring of 2023.
Fittante noted, “This undertaking is possible only because of the strong working partnership that exists between the varied economic, community and workforce development stakeholders across the Upper Peninsula, and their collective decision that the best use of these funds was to invest in a comprehensive labor market study that will, in the end, permit a strategic approach to effectuate real change in the U.P. labor market and assist U.P. employers.”
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