Wade: Talented workforce crucial to creating jobs

PANAMA CITY — Neal Wade echoed the words of James Clifton’s book “The Coming Jobs War” in a presentation to the local business community Friday.

“What the world wants more than anything else is a good job,” he said.

Wade, the executive director of the Bay County Economic Development Alliance, spoke at the Bay County Chamber of Commerce’s monthly First Friday event, outlining the challenges facing the area as competition for jobs and industry increases.

 “We, as a community, and communities all across this country and all across the world, are going to be competing for these jobs,” Wade said. “We’re going to have to be finding a way that we can make our community in a position to expand … but also make ourselves attractive to the companies like you that are here to get you to expand.”

Wade said workforce development remains one of this community’s biggest challenges.

“If we can demonstrate to companies that we can provide their workforce, we’ve got a real good chance to be in the mix to win that project,” said Wade, throwing out “startling numbers” to highlight changes to workforce requirements over the years.

In 1973, only 28 percent of jobs in the U.S. required some sort of post-secondary education. By 2020, it will be required for an estimated 65 percent of jobs.

“That is a huge shift in what is going on out there,” said Wade, challenging the community to step up to the task.

“When I started in this business, it was sites, it was incentives that drove this engine,” he said. “It is workforce today. It is education.”

Another speaker at Friday’s event challenged the audience to tackle another problem facing Bay County: a dire need for foster families.

Scott Clemons spoke on behalf of the Northwest Florida Life Management Center, kicking off an effort to find 100 more foster homes in the area. 

Last year, more than 300 children were removed from their homes due to abuse and neglect in Bay County and placed into foster care, the largest number of children removed per capita of anywhere else in the state. Of those children removed, 100 had to leave the more than just their homes.

“That’s happening clearly because we don’t have enough foster care homes to serve those children that are in need,” said Clemons, a former Panama City mayor. “It’s bad enough when a child has to be removed from their home, but it’s heartbreaking that they may not only be removed from their home, but removed from all these other things that provide stability in their lives — school, friends, maybe their church.”

On Monday, the life management center is hosting a breakfast for community leaders to learn more about the problem and how to help. The event will be at the Woman’s Club of Panama City on North Cove Boulevard at 8 a.m.