Economic resiliency meetings provide insight on COVID-19’s impact on area
By Willis Patenaude, Times-Register
Upper Explorerland Regional Planning Commission recently employed CAREs Act Grant funding to conduct economic resiliency planning in its region, which includes Allamakee, Clayton, Fayette, Howard and Winneshiek counties.
According to regional planner Michelle Barness, who conducted meetings via Zoom, the intent of the meetings, which were held in each county with the board of supervisors, was to assess the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the region, understand community responses to the pandemic and discuss how to build economic resiliency in the future.
Any feedback will inform the region’s Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS), and can assist communities in identifying economic recovery and resiliency strategies.
In addition, the meetings looked at key vulnerabilities and building goals based on data and information which was largely gathered from Iowa Workforce Development, the U.S. Census, the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) Business & Community Services 2021 “COVID-19 Impact on Iowa Businesses” survey, the Upper Explorerland Regional Planning Commission 2021 “COVID-19 Government Impact” survey and stakeholder interviews.
What the data found in terms of vulnerabilities included limited broadband and public internet, limited aid options for certain business sectors, labor shortages, increased mental health and stress, supply chain issues, lacking contact databases and practices, childcare struggles for working parents, volunteers becoming harder to find, indoor tourism and food insecurity among low-income families and the elderly.
Goals or strengths that came out of the data and meetings included the opportunity to build on outdoor recreation and tourism, adapting business marketing plans and providing marketing assistance, the need to diversify products, transitioning jobs to remote where possible, building on the trend of workers moving to scenic areas, cross marketing the entire region and providing a stronger focus on financial training and planning for small businesses.
Another aspect the data revealed was the expected rise in the annual unemployment insurance benefits paid. In all five counties covered in the analysis, those benefits rose significantly in 2020 when compared to 2019.
According to the data, Clayton County saw a $3.5 million increase in unemployment benefits, not including pandemic compensation or assistance. Winneshiek County saw the largest increase, rising from $2.7 million in 2019 to $7.2 million in 2020, as a result of the pandemic.
However, these numbers don’t tell the full story of the impact on different sectors of the economy, which, according to Barness, “varied quite a bit based on things like government mandates, financial aid or supports available, flexibility in marketing and provision of goods and services, demand for products during the pandemic and more.”
In terms of major concerns for businesses during the pandemic, the UNI survey revealed the top three all had to do with money, including revenue loss, liquidity and capital and cash flow, while employee health ranked fourth.
The survey found similar results for the support businesses needed the most. The top response was financial assistance at 42.2 percent, with tax relief a close second with 32.6 percent. The first mention of workers was sixth, with childcare support for families reaching 13.6 percent. Support for impacted employees was seventh at 13 percent.
While top business concerns were financial, the UERPC survey listed “support for mental health” and “access to childcare” as the number two and three issues exacerbated by the pandemic.
When asked about the apparent disconnect between the surveys, Barness responded, “I don’t know why businesses ranked concerns the way they did…It does seem clear that employee/workforce health was a concern—businesses were doing things like sanitizing/cleaning/remote work options—but financial concerns seem to have been at the forefront.”
Barness added, “The community issues exacerbated by the pandemic question was for governments responding to a survey conducted by UERPC. It is possible that, as a provider of community services, facilities and infrastructure, government has had a longer and wider reaching view of these community wide issues.”
Before the pandemic, Barness said governments may have been exposed to childcare and mental health issues through local groups, planning processes, government staff (police, health and emergency responders in the case of mental health) and more.
“Businesses, on the other hand, are likely to have a more limited view of these issues, based entirely on the context of their organization,” she noted.
One issue the pandemic exposed was the lack of reliable high-speed internet, especially in rural areas. As a result, Barness cited several grants and programs being developed to focus on addressing the issue, including The Emergency Broadband Benefit Program, which is a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) program designed to help families and households struggling to afford internet service during the COVID-19 pandemic (including providing discounts toward broadband service and assistance with technology purchases.)
Additionally, the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) “Empower Rural Iowa Broadband Grant Program” provided $4,950,000 for broadband expansion in Iowa. The Rural North Waukon project from Allamakee-Clayton Electric Cooperative, Inc., in partnership with UERPC, was one of 13 projects that received funding. The Community Development Block Grant CAREs Act (CDBG-CV) also has a public WiFi/broadband access funding category.
Another major concern resulting from the pandemic was the social impacts it had on issues of food insecurity, mental health and child wellbeing.
On food insecurity, people were laid off, which added stress on food pantries, school closures were hard on low income families and children who relied on the lunch services, and seniors were especially vulnerable.
For mental health, the surveys showed the pandemic heightened the issue with forced isolation, employment struggles, economic and food insecurity and enhanced stress.
Mental health can be tied to the issue of child wellbeing, which was heavily impacted with the school closures and lack of childcare access, the process of at-home learning, child isolation and child security in the home and the added burden it put on family finances.
In the aftermath of this, Barness discussed several things that have been done or mentioned to improve these areas in the future. That includes schools providing free, bagged lunches to all students (even for students learning from home); community organizations applying for grants for food assistance and providing food for free to the general public; food pantries delivering food and sometimes picking up groceries for people in need; regional transit assisting with food delivery for people in rural areas; and cities stepping up to help get food to residents using volunteers.
The meetings also showed smaller communities dealt with, and in some instances are still going through, labor shortages. The workforce is lacking necessary skills.
The Workforce Innovation for a Strong Economy (WISE) Plan, which was an effort to understand and address the workforce preparation, retention and recruitment challenges faced by businesses and communities across the 7 Rivers Alliance Region, found several key challenges relating to the workforce. Those included a declining population, aging workforce, misperceptions about the region’s employment opportunities, mismatch of skills between what is being produced by the region’s post-secondary institutions and the needs of local employers, out-migration and out-commuting, limited childcare options and affordability and attracting people to the area.
The WISE Plan provides a path forward in managing these challenges. That involves efforts to increase student and worker employability skills, prepare incumbent workers and mature jobseekers to have greater flexibility in the workplace, foster inclusive regional communities to better attract minority and underrepresented individuals, ensure the availability of affordable housing for the region’s workforce and bolster more connections and relationships between currently enrolled students, regional employers and local communities.
Moving forward, the meetings focused on building economic resilience not just by addressing weaknesses but also continuing to promote the strengths of rural northeast Iowa. That includes the dedicated workforce, outdoor recreation and the scenic beauty, while employing pathways to prepare for resiliency through state and local resources, strategic planning, organizational assessment, scenario exercises and crisis communication plans. Establishing a recovery process is vital because it’s not a question of if there will be another disaster, but when, and the lessons learned from COVID-19 will pay dividends in the future.
