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Public and private partnerships and planning are key to meeting workforce needs and developing vibrant communities for small and large businesses alike in the Manor, Elgin and Taylor area.
This was the theme of a panel discussion of experts in business, education and government at the first ever METT Summit held at the Elgin Recreation Center May 18, which was organized by the Manor, Elgin and Taylor chambers of commerce.
“You may be wondering what is in my lap,” said panelist Michele Glaze, who manages communications & community affairs for Samsung Austin Semiconductor, holding up a shiny semiconductor disc for the audience. “It takes a big workforce to make this chip. This is what we produce every day. It takes a large workforce to make this chip happen. We need technicians, we need engineers, we need data scientists, we need financial analysts. We need HR (human resources). In fact, by 2025, it is our intention to have 3,500 jobs created at the new facility in Taylor.”
The panel, which was moderated by Abby Mellott, the publisher of the Austin Business Journal, also featured Brandt Rydell, the mayor of Taylor, Chris Cervini, Austin Community College’s vice chancellor for community affairs, as well as Bryan Bracewell, a board member of Elgin’s Economic Development Corporation whose company Southside Market & Barbecue is expanding in the area and hiring as well.
However, meeting area workforce needs is not always straightforward, panelists said.
“What’s dangerous is our young people are chasing dollars instead of chasing skillsets,” Bracewell said. “And so, I would much rather see public and private partnerships. We have a great opportunity here with ACC.”
Cervini said ACC has had to adapt quickly to meet the needs of local companies such as Samsung, as well inform students — from high school aged kids to adults looking to change careers — about what is out there.
“When you talk to a student about what they want to do, everybody knows what a nurse is, but when you talk about an advanced manufacturing technician, we have to work very hard to educate our partners that this is not your grandfather’s manufacturing,” Cervini said. “This is not working on machinery. This is diverse job with a wide set of skills needed … It is a pathway to a family-sustaining wage with the ability to create wealth and own a piece of the American dream.”
Glaze said Samsung has developed partnerships with local educational institutions, non-profit organizations and local governments to fill the wide variety of advanced manufacturing positions that will be needed in the next few years.
“We are hiring many of these jobs today,” Glaze said.
Another issue Bracewell said his company is facing, however, is reorienting people’s view of the local area as a place to work rather than just a bedroom community for Austin.
“It’s been part of our culture for years and years that everybody is used to going to Austin,” he said. “We need a little bit of a culture shift to say to our workforce that, ‘Hey, there are careers here at home that you can make a good living at.’” Rydell said government leaders have used planning to enhance the downtowns of towns like Elgin and Taylor to make them attractive places to live and do business in.
“The city of Elgin has done a phenomenal job with their downtown and their Main Street district,” Rydell said. “During our comprehensive planning process, we did a fiscal analysis of our core. Our historic downtown is actually a higher revenue segment of our community rather than the northern sprawl and big box stores... Not only do we realize higher value per acre in terms of ad valorum tax and everything else, and the sales tax, it also defines the character of your town. It’s the identity you create that sets you apart.”
