Job-seekers, economic development meet at workforce center

When Jacob Castillo took over at the helm of the Larimer County Workforce Center, the economic development field in Larimer County saw a new player arrive to help bring companies to the area, creating the jobs needed by those who seek employment assistance at the workforce center.

In addition to administering the enterprise zone tax-credit program and serving as liaison to the Workforce Investment Board, Castillo also took on the new role of economic development manager for the county, advocating for businesses and presenting incentive requests to the Larimer County Board of Commissioners.

The county often is limited in the kinds of incentives it can provide, Castillo said, but one tool that has proved useful is the business personal property tax rebate, in which the county rebates taxes collected on personal property for businesses.

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In September, the county adopted an economic development policy to help guide the way business incentives are handled, Castillo said. It’s his job to bridge the gap between the two.

“I try to make the tie between workforce development and economic development,” he said. This includes working with businesses to determine what kinds of employees they need and implementing programs that will produce those employees. Most recently, Castillo has helped obtain incentives for expansions at Avago Technologies in Fort Collins and Value Plastics Inc. in Loveland.

When he started about 14 months ago, Castillo sat down with business leaders in Larimer County to gather intelligence about what was needed to add a human element to economic development.

“They say, ‘Larimer County is a great place to operate a business, but sometimes it’s hard to find the right talent,’ ” he said.

For example, Castillo heard often that there are not enough skilled manufacturing workers here. To remedy that, the workforce center worked with Front Range Community College to implement a curriculum that would teach students the skills needed to work in manufacturing. After graduation, the workforce center can help those students find manufacturing jobs.

Maintaining a flow of talented people who are either already trained or easily can be trained on the job is vital to Northern Colorado’s companies, especially those in industries poised for expansive growth in coming years, according to Yvonne Myers, health systems director at Columbine Health Systems.

Caring for seniors is Columbine’s specialty, and with the impending “silver tsunami,” or influx of baby boomers entering retirement, the company is aware that it is entering a growth phase and will need to be able to attract and hire the talent to staff its facilities, Myers said.

Conversations about workforce development are happening all around Larimer County, Myers said, but it is still difficult to get companies to come to the table and discuss what they need.

“We’re getting better, but we’re not there yet,” Myers said.

Castillo has plans to continue improving in the new year. The workforce investment board will focus on three types of job-seekers in 2014, he said.

“STEAM” occupations, – those jobs in science, technology, engineering, arts and math – are first on the board’s list, along with “middle-skill” occupations, which are those held by people with more than a high school diploma, but less than a four-year degree.

The board also will focus on those looking for leadership roles, which is a group that most don’t associate with the workforce center. Many people don’t see career counseling as something that is used past a certain point in a person’s career, but the center works with everyone from youth to professionals holding Ph.Ds, Castillo said.

While the unemployment rate in Larimer County is better than most of the state’s, and has fallen steadily over the past year, from 5.9 percent to 5.1 percent year-over-year in October, Castillo says there is still room for improvement.

“Underemployment needs to be addressed,” he said. “And even though the unemployment rate is down, I don’t want to gloss over the fact that there are still people looking for work.”

So the conversation continues.

“We keep working with businesses to address specific needs,” Castillo said, “and then find people who meet those needs.”