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10
Community Council
Findings
struction has recently picked up, and
that sector, along with health care and
social services, manufacturing, leisure
and hospitality, is currently expanding
at a rate of 2 to 4 percent per year.
Reports from local employers seem
to confirm those projections. For
example, one small manufacturing
firm expects to hire 6 to 10 additional
employees this year. A medium-sized
manufacturing business did not
anticipate significant growth in the
near future but did note that its aging
workforce will need to be replaced
in the coming years. The passage of
the Affordable Care Act and the aging
of the population have increased
demand within the health care sector.
Because our area has a number of
large health care employers, regional
wage competition has made it more
difficult to fill positions and retain
employees in that sector.
Economic growth
in a rural region
A decade of slow employment growth
in our region prompted discussions
about different ways to encourage
economic growth. In addition to
directly supporting educational attain-
ment and quality education, several
speakers identified additional models
of economic growth that include
investments in human capital.
Attracting outside investment
Jim Kuntz, Executive Director of the
Port of Walla Walla, encouraged invest-
ments that enhance the regional qual-
ity of life in order to attract employers
from outside the area. Noting flat eco-
nomic growth for the past 15 years in
the region, he suggested that growth
in the local labor force will be exter-
nally driven, especially at higher wage
levels. Employers may be drawn to our
rural location to avoid competition for
highly skilled labor, and workers may
find the regional quality of life appeal-
ing. To make our valley more vibrant
and attractive, other speakers encour-
aged supporting strong public schools
and nurturing local institutions of
higher education.
Value-added agriculture
Clive Kaiser, Associate Professor of
Horticulture at Oregon State University
and Agricultural Extension Agent in
Umatilla County, encouraged invest-
ments that support value-added
agriculture.
Value-added agriculture
refers to processes that increase the
value of an agricultural product. He
noted that our region has a compara-
tive advantage in that industry—since
we can produce and process agri-
cultural goods locally, we can avoid
transportation costs for inputs. Some
examples of value-added agriculture
that have been developed and could
be expanded in our region include
wine, cider and spirits, as well as third-
party certifications (such as Salmon-
Safe or organic certifications). Kaiser
suggested that low wages in the ag-
ricultural sector should be addressed
and that value-added agriculture
offers opportunities for higher wage
employment.
Entrepreneurial ecosystem
Art Hill, Director of Small Business Cen-
ters and Vice President of Economic
Development at Blue Mountain Com-
munity College (BMCC), suggested
that investments in education should
teach people how to create new jobs,
not simply fill the ones that already ex-
ist. In addition to supporting individu-
als as they start, run, and grow their
own companies, it is also important to
recognize that new jobs can be gener-
ated from within an existing business
Walla Walla Community College Enology and Viticulture students operating
an optical sorter donated by Key Technology to process wine grapes. Photo
courtesy of wwccmedia.