Business View Magazine November-December 2018

2 3 T Continuously improving is at the core of BrandPoint Services’ DNA. Every job is surveyed and reviewed as part of our quality-control process, ensuring that we delivered on our promise. But we don’t stop there. We find opportunities to deliver an even better experience from location to location, project to project. When you choose BrandPoint, you won’t need to manage multiple suppliers. From painting and flooring to repairs and remodeling, BrandPoint is the solution for expert project management and quality work across North America. Learn how BrandPoint Services can help you improve your next multi-site program. BrandPointServices.com 800.905.4342 © 2016 BrandPoint Services, Inc. PAINTING • GRAPHICS • FLOORING • SURVEYING • GENERAL REPAIRS Improving From the Editor The scarcity of qualified workers across many industries and sectors is something that we at Business ViewMagazine hear about daily, as we conversewith business owners and entrepreneurs around the country. In fact, with a national unemployment rate just under four percent, there are nowmore jobs available – approximately 6.9million of them– than there are availableworkers looking for them. The current labor shortage has been further exacerbatedbyamassexodusof retiringBaby Boomers, aswell as tougher immigrationrestric- tions, and it’sabigheadache forbusinesseswhen theycan’t findenoughtalent tomeet growing demand. Some companies even have to reject neworders because they cannot fill them. Meanwhile, other firms have been forced to get creative to fill the record job openings. Some are increasing overtime and convert- ing part-timeworkers to full-time; some are spendingmore on vocational training, establishing ties to local schools and colleges; some are lowering their standards for hiring – inmany parts of the country, former felons are no longer being rejected out of hand. When all else fails, some companies just bite the bullet and offer an array of benefits, bonuses, incen- tives, and other forms of compensation. Today, businesses are not the only ones doling out enticements to potential workers. All across America, towns and cities with unfulfilled jobs have joined the recruit- ment parade and are handing out money, student-debt relief, and home-purchase as- sistance to lure employees in what has been referred to as a modern day Homestead Act, referring to the 1862 law, which offered pub- lic land to settlers willing to move West. In Hamilton, Ohio, for example, where state statistics showabout 5,800 unfilled jobs in a city of 62,000, college graduates who agree tomove there can receive up to $5,000 toward their student loan debt. The “reverse scholar- ship” program, which started in February 2018, is available to any student who graduated in the last seven years with a science, technology, engineering, math, or arts degree, and/or has more than $5,000 in college debt. Teachers whomove to Hamilton and teach full-time for five consecutive academic years in select low-income schools can qualify for even great- er student loan paybacks—up to $17,500. Detroit, Michigan has a fellowship pro- gram that gives newcomers a guaranteed salary for the first year. Launched in 2008, “Challenge Detroit” offers paid fellowships for out-of-state college graduates tomove, live, andwork in the city. Every year, about 30 fel- lows are chosen toworkwith local companies and nonprofits, with the option to settle down in the city after the 12-month-long program finishes. Fellowsmake $36,000 for the year, plus benefits. Located about an hour drive from Des Moines, Marne, Iowa is providing free land to new residents who want to build a house there. Often valued in the tens of thousands, the lots average about 9,600 square feet. The North Platte, Nebraska Chamber of Commerce began offering up to $10,000 to anyone who moves there for a job. New employees must agree to remain at their companies for at least three years. New, eligible residents who move to Cottonwood Falls, Kansas, can have their in- come taxes waived for up to five years. And people who move to Colby, a city in Thomas County, can apply for both the income tax waivers and up to $15,000 in student loan repayments. The same goes for Oberlin, Eureka, and Stockton. In Grant County, Indiana, the Economic Development Office offers $5,000 toward a home for people moving to the area. The re- quirements are a job and advanced training or a college degree, and the money must be repaid if a recipient leaves within five years. So far, about 100 newcomers have bought houses through the program. In addition, the Grant County Chamber of Commerce is developing a $9,000 scholarship program to help repay student loans, which, combined with the housing grants, would pay newcom- ers $14,000 to settle there. Starting in January 2019, Vermont will pay $10,000 over two years to a small number of remote workers who relocate to the City of Burlington—money that will help cover costs for relocation, computer software and hardware, internet access, andmembership to co-working spaces. Vermont has earmarked $125,000 for the program’s first year. TheWashington State Loan Repayment Program is offering up to $75,000 in loan reimbursements for workers paying down their student loans in certain health-related fields and arewilling to dig in for three years. In years past, towns, cities, counties, and even states would vie with one another to see which jurisdiction could offer the most attractive incentive packages to large busi- nesses that promised to relocate and hire local workers. Today, those incentives have been downsized; they’re now designed to attract workers one by one. Al Krulick Editor-in-Chief Editor-in-Chief Al Krulick Associate Editor Lorie Lee Steiner Vice President of Operations Lauren Blackwell Research Directors Paul Payne Brendan McElroy Josh Conklin Lisa Curry Matthew Mitchell Christian Combes Matthew Blankenship Tyler Raffauf Digital Strategist Jon Bartlow Director of Administration Alyson Casey Creative Director Dana Long Vice President of Business Development Erin O’Donoghue Vice President of Publishing Andre Barefield CGO Alexander Wynne-Jones COO Brian Andersen Executive Publisher / CEO Marcus VandenBrink USA Canada Caribbean Oceania Email for all inquiries: info@businessviewmagazine.com WWW.BUSINESSVIEWMAGAZINE.COM 12559 New Brittany Blvd Fort Myers, FL 33907 239.220.5554 CONTACT US