The Marion County Development Commission, Pella Area Development Corporation, the City of Knoxville and colleagues in the Opportunity Squared Regional Development group are working to complete a Laborshed employment study for the seven-county area.

The Iowa Workforce Development study in Appanoose, Davis, Keokuk, Mahaska, Marion, Monroe, and Wapello Counties will examine the labor force from which area employers draw their employees, and is based upon commuting patterns into the area.

The study will assist existing and prospective businesses to better understand the size and characteristics of the area’s labor force, regardless of political boundaries.

Employers in major cities through the seven counties will receive letters asking to provide aggregate counts of employees’ residential ZIP codes.

It will be followed by, a confidential household telephone survey with others.

The questions will cover topics such as: employment status, current and desired wages, current and desired benefits, education level, and type of occupation. Survey results will be applied to demographic data to determine the size of the Opportunity Squared area labor force, as well as various labor force characteristics. Iowa Workforce Development will not be asking survey takers any identifiable information such as: name, social security number, or date of birth.

The results for each county and regional Laborshed analysis can be found here. Questions about the Laborshed workforce project should be directed to Katie Lippold at 515-281-3035.