Report: Trained workers lacking in key high-tech fields
BYLINE: Jason Trenkle
Albuquerque is facing "significant threats" to its ability to attract and retain firms in high-tech industries because it is not well prepared to provide such employers with the educated workers they need.
That's according to a report commissioned by Forest City Covington and area economic development agencies.
A summary of the report, entitled "Labor Market Assessment of the Albuquerque MSA," was released Oct. 5 at the mayor's 2006 Economic Development Forum and it paints a dim picture for the city's technology-based workforce. It states there is a "limited availability of trained workers in key occupations," including engineering, which are crucial to bringing high-tech companies to the area.
Challenges are numerous
A tight labor market, competition from other cities and a public school system facing significant challenges exacerbate the situation, the report says.
Economic development officials say such problems can retard economic growth by hurting the city's chances of attracting new companies or keeping existing companies.
The Labor Market report is highly critical of the Albuquerque public school system and notes that 14 of 20 APS high schools do not meet the federal performance standards established in the No Child Left Behind Act. The report states that the performance of Albuquerque students in math and science continues to be lower than the national average.
The report was commissioned by Forest City, the developer of Mesa del Sol and also by Albuquerque Economic Development (AED) and other economic developers. Forest City has a particularly large stake in the issue, as it is relying on attracting high-tech industries to provide many of the business underpinnings for its 13,000-acre, mixed-use development south of the Sunport and east of I-25 -- including providing jobs for the development's projected 37,500 households.
The study, which was performed by the Wadley-Donovan Group, an economic development consulting firm in Springfield, N.J., included a survey that was distributed in August to more than 100 businesses in and around Albuquerque. Wadley-Donovan did not return phone calls seeking comment.
AED President Gary Tonjes says the purpose of the survey was to gain firsthand knowledge of employers' workforce needs, including what skill sets and skill levels they need most. He says the findings will help his agency and other economic developers to direct training and secondary education efforts toward fields from which businesses say they need trained workers.
Tonjes says the survey results are not being released because they could give other cities a competitive advantage in attracting new companies.
Recommending partnerships
The report suggests the creation of a regional workforce partnership to enhance the use of the region's educational resources to meet the needs of area employers.
The partnership also would be used to promote vocational and technical careers as "acceptable and lucrative" alternatives to attending a four-year college. The study suggests greater funding for schools that produce workers for a knowledge- and technology-based economy.
The report also says the University of New Mexico needs to be given more exposure as a source of talented workers in high-tech fields. It suggests a marketing campaign be conducted to enhance UNM's national reputation as one of the country's top schools for engineering and science. Another goal put forth by the report would be to strengthen the relationship between UNM and high-tech employers, including Sandia National Laboratories and Kirtland Air Force Base, to ensure that graduates have a path to meaningful careers in the region.
Many of the report's laments are not news to area business leaders. Companies such as Eclipse Aviation have been outspoken advocates of change in the region's approach to workforce development. During an April 12 meeting of the Economic Forum, Eclipse President and CEO Vern Rayburn said his biggest concern was the lack of qualified candidates skilled in science and math. He said unless action is taken by 2010, there will be a severe shortage of workers in those fields, as more baby boomers retire.
Rayburn has ben heard blaming the Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) for the loss of some of his employees, who he says left Eclipse and moved from the area specifically because they were not satisfied with the education they believed APS would provide for their children.