Chamber Roundtable Dives Into Workforce Challenges and Opportunities
The latest Chamber Roundtable, Unlocking Workforce Potential, featured a lively presentation from Ashley Espinoza, Executive Director for Lane Workforce Partnership, and Henry Fields, Workforce Analyst with the Oregon Employment Department. After these remarks, attendees participated in thoughtful discussion around trends in the workforce landscape, both locally and in other parts of the country.
Kicking off the Roundtable, the Springfield Chamber‘s Senior Director of Advocacy and Economic Development, Paige Walters, put the day’s topic in context with background from the Chamber’s 2024 Business Climate Survey. Notably, workforce and talent was identified by those surveyed as the top challenge impacting business, with inflation costs and competitive wages/benefits falling second and third. Regarding mitigation strategies, businesses reported implementing talent development and DEI programs, adopting more flexible scheduling, and investing in workforce development and strategic action plans as some of the ways they were meeting these challenges.
Ashley Espinoza of Lane Workforce Partnership (LWP) gave an overview of the strategic functions of a workforce development board, with LWP being one of nine across the state of Oregon. Key functions include ensuring diverse representation, crafting strategies for workforce growth, building strong business partnerships, aligning education and training with regional needs, and modernizing services for inclusivity. Naturally, Espinoza and her fellow presenter, Henry Fields from the Oregon Employment Department, collaborate by sharing data, resources, and networks in order to move workforce development forward in various industries.
A graphic shared in Espinoza’s presentation shows the network of service providers Lane Workforce Partnership collaborates with to accomplish workforce development goals funded by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).
Henry Fields then shared data on workforce trends in Lane County over time, with an emphasis on how the workforce had been impacted during and after the pandemic, as compared to other recessions. He went through a wealth of data and demographic trends, and invited attendees to reach out to him directly if they wanted to get into more specifics on their own industries, cities, job type, and more.
“As our population ages, the part of the workforce that is 55 and older, and specifically the part that is 65 and older, is growing very rapidly. … At the same time, the under-24 demographic is declining over time. Figuring out how to attract the workforce of all different ages, or serve these different groups is a key part of answering this question of how to take full advantage of our local workforce.”
– Henry Fields, Workforce Analyst, Oregon Employment Department
Espinoza returned to briefly go through some of what can be found in the Lane Workforce Partnership’s 2024-2026 State of the Workforce report, which is chock full of relevant data, industry profiles, sector strategies, and examples of boots-on-the-ground partners working toward a better future for employers and employees alike.
Espinoza shared several examples of how workforce development funding is being put into action through partnerships between public entities and private businesses. Constructing a Brighter Future – a collaboration between Lane Workforce Partnership, regional education institutions, and construction industry partners – connects job seekers with hands-on training and career pathways in the trades. In another example, a partnership between Lanz Cabinets and Catholic Community Services demonstrates how wraparound support services can help employees stay on the job by addressing barriers like transportation, food insecurity, and housing (watch the video about this partnership here).
To close, Espinoza and Fields opened up the room for questions and discussion. Attendees shared curiosities about local trends, specific industries, demographics, and examples of communities doing things worth emulating. As with most Chamber events, members stuck around to network with one another or took the opportunity to ask the presenters more questions one on one.
More about Chamber Roundtable
The Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce‘s monthly Chamber Roundtable Series fosters interactive discussions on legislation and policy, community and economic development, and workforce and talent. Quarterly, these Roundtables will be coupled with an on-location business tour exploring some of the many unique industry leaders throughout the Springfield area.
