GRCA_CommerceQuarterly_Spring2018 - 6
a message from our President & CEO
Go West (Reading),
Young Man (and Woman)!
Randy Peers, President & CEO - Greater Reading Chamber Alliance
L
ast issue of Commerce Low unemployment, however, means competition for skilled
Quarterly I wrote about workers will increase, indicating the labor crisis may very well be
the
looming
labor upon us now.
shortages facing key industries
A few other seemingly unrelated data points were also telling.
in Berks County. In fact, it's First, new housing starts were significantly up, from about 500
probably the defining economic in 2016 to approximately 600 in 2018. Our baseline of new
development challenge we face housing starts was low to begin with, and much lower than the
over the long-term. On May 3, neighboring counties of Lehigh, Lancaster and Chester. Also, for
the Greater Reading Chamber the first time ever, the greatest business challenge cited by business
Alliance (GRCA), in partnership leaders in the Executive Pulse survey this year was "finding/hiring
with Kutztown University, The professional/managerial employees." This was a surprise given that
Reading Eagle Company and "finding technical skilled workers" has been a top concern in past
Herbein & Company, hosted surveys (ranked fourth this year behind "finding new customers"
its annual Economic Outlook and "managing costs"). Rounding out the top five was "finding
Breakfast, where we presented entry-level employees." Three of the top five concerns involved
current economic data and the results of the Executive Pulse Survey. sourcing of labor, but top among them has become finding higherThe data, in many ways, helped confirm our concerns about the level management employees. Is there a correlation between new
future of our workforce.
housing starts and this need for more professional workers? We
The overall economic data was very positive: our 3.8 percent think this may be the case.
GDP growth in 2016 led all counties in Pennsylvania and placed us
Existing housing inventory in Berks County is low, and high43rd in the nation in terms of growth. Nine of twelve industries were end rental units are almost non-existent.
I experienced this
projected to continue to grow through 2019. Our unemployment challenge first-hand when I moved to Berks County in January
rate, which stands at 4.2 percent, is at its lowest point in decades.
6 COMMERCE QUARTERLY SPRING 2018
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