DES MOINES, IOWA – Iowa Workforce Development and the Iowa Economic Development Authority have released a series of 17 regional reports to accompany the Iowa Workforce and Economic Development Status Report that was released in January 2012. The regional reports allow for the comparison of regional economies to the statewide economy, as well as for comparisons of counties within each region.
Click here for North Central Iowa’s report.
“As Iowa moves through a period of strong economic growth, the baseline information provided in the status reports will assist regions in developing economic plans suited to their particular regions,” stated Iowa Workforce Development Director Teresa Wahlert.
In January of 2011, Governor Terry Branstad released a set of goals aimed at improving the socio-economic environment of Iowans. These goals include: creating 200,000 new jobs, increasing family incomes by 25 percent, providing Iowa’s youth with the best education in the nation and reducing State government costs by 15 percent. The Iowa Workforce and Economic Development Status Report delineates some of the opportunities and challenges Iowa faces in several areas as they relate to the attainment of these goals.
For the regional reports, counties are grouped based on economic development regional marketing group territories and Laborshed areas. This results in 17 regions of between two and nine counties each. The regional reports analyze much of the same data that is in the statewide report at the county and regional level.
The Workforce and Economic Development Regional Status Reports, along with the statewide report, are available at:http://www.iowaworkforce.org/lmi/labsur/status_reports/statusreports.htm.
