“That has eased a little bit. What we hear now is they’ve got enough to keep the doors open, but they could utilize more people if they had the talent.” Progress Lakeshore, a public-private partnership, leads workforce development initiatives across Manitowoc County. The organization collaborates with Lakeshore College, UW-Green Bay’s Manitowoc campus, and Lakeland University to align educational programs with industry needs. Over 600 employees have completed data analytics training through these partnerships in recent years. “The city has really taken a step back and said, what is our role in that?”Tegen explains.“What the Council have begun to focus more and more on is how do we get more housing here? We have employment, we have skilled labor, but how do we bring more people in to support those businesses?” The strategy recognizes changing workforce priorities. “Traditionally, it may have been that thought of, I’m just going to go where I get paid the most and where the jobs are at,” Tegen observes. “Now we need to be a community that people want to be in. If they’re working in New York City and living here, that’s not necessarily a bad thing for the community.” EMBRACING THE WATERFRONT For decades, Manitowoc tended to take for grantedits Justin M. Nickels, Mayor 10 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 06, ISSUE 07
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