Studies show employment growing in area
While a pair of new studies show that Westmoreland and Fayette counties have experienced higher employment growth than the region and state, business and industry will need skilled workers to fill new jobs by 2010. On Monday, the St. Vincent College Alex G. McKenna School of Business, Economics, and Government presented an overview of findings from two recently completed studies measuring the relative economic strength and competitiveness of businesses in Westmoreland and Fayette counties.
A formal rollout of an Industry Cluster Analysis of Westmoreland and Fayette Counties was sponsored by the Westmoreland-Fayette Workforce Investment Board and conducted with the help of the college’s Small Business Development Center.
Dr. Andrew Herr, associate professor of economics at the Alex G. McKenna School, served as the project director.
Also unveiled was the 2006 Business Needs Assessment of Westmoreland and Fayette Counties. Dr. Thomas Cline, associate professor of marketing at the Alex G. McKenna School, was its project director.
Key findings, Herr said, were that in comparison to the nine-county southwest Pennsylvania region, Fayette and Westmoreland had “higher employment growth between 1995 and 2004,’ which was particularly true in Fayette County.
Herr, who could offer no specific reason why Fayette did better, said the county’s employment growth during that period measured 12.8 percent, “compared to 5.4 percent for southwest Pennsylvania and 8.8 percent for all of Pennsylvania.
“Overall, the local economy (Westmoreland and Fayette counties) is projected to experience employment growth of 3.1 percent between 2004 and 2010,’ Herr said.
The study, he added, looked at 18 industry clusters but concentrated on five key clusters: advanced materials and diversified manufacturing; business and financial services; life sciences; building and construction; and hospitality, tourism and recreation.
However, while the study projects growth, Herr offered the findings with a caveat.
“This is all great, but we are also looking in the rear view mirror at what has already happened. When we are looking forward, we don’t know what will happen in the local economy or what might throw some of the industries in the area off track,’ he said.
However, the study projects that from 2004 to 2010 in Westmoreland and Fayette counties there will be a 9.3 percent decline in advance materials and diversified manufacturing employment; a 37.9 percent increase in business and financial services employment; a 2.5 percent increase in life sciences employment; a 9 percent gain in building and construction employment; and a 14.5 percent increase in hospitality, tourism and recreation employment.
Dr. Gary Quinlivan, McKenna School dean, explained that by clarifying local employment concentrations and trends, industry cluster analysis provides a solid foundation around which planning, policymaking and service delivery activities can be focused.
Quinlivan and Jeff Kelly of Hamill Manufacturing and chairman of the Workforce Improvement Board emphasized that schools will have to focus more on meeting local business needs in finding skilled workers in the future. Kelly talked about reaching a “critical mass’ when there will no longer be enough skilled workers in the two counties to fill jobs in manufacturing.
Meanwhile, Dr. Thomas Cline, McKenna School associate professor of marketing, reviewed findings from the Business Needs Assessment study. Surveys were sent out to about 2,000 businesses with 10 or more employees in Fayette and Westmoreland counties. Cline said about 10 percent responded by giving information on areas, including finding a qualified work force, cash flow management, marketing planning and other areas of concern.
The goal of the Business Needs Assessment was to collect insights about the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises in the area.
One of the findings was that about 29.5 percent of the businesses reported keeping their employment levels about the same through 2010, while 37.4 percent said they would increase employment from 5 to 10 percent; and 22.6 percent of the businesses said they expected to increase their employment by 10 percent or more.
For more information on the studies, call the St. Vincent College SBDC at 724-537-4572.