By Marilyn Odendahl, Truth Staff
modendahl@etruth.com
In an area with double-digit unemployment and a work force that has shrunk by 4,000 since January, the thought of individuals relocating to Elkhart County may seem ridiculous.
However, a few outside companies have announced plans to start operations here and some homegrown businesses are expanding, which most likely means they will need to recruit talent from other places along with hiring local workers. And since life is more than a job, what the area offers in terms of schools, health care, housing and entertainment opportunities becomes an important selling point.
"We want them living and working in Elkhart County," said Dorinda Heiden-Guss, president of the Economic Development Corp. of Elkhart County.
Getting the owners and upper level managers of new companies to move here will benefit the local community in two ways, Heiden-Guss said. First, they will bring new investment by buying homes, enrolling their children in the schools, and joining civic and religious organizations. Second, living in the county and being seen outside of work shows a commitment to the area and builds loyalty among their employees.
As a part of his plans to build electric-hybrid trucks here, Wil Cashen, chief executive officer of Electric Motors Vehicle Corp., said he needs the auto engineers from Detroit to help develop his product. Given the state of the auto industry, Cashen maintains he will have little trouble convincing those professionals to leave the Motor City and move to northern Indiana.
He ticks off a few quality of life reasons that will entice the engineers -- lower cost of living, not having to worry about their kids -- before he identifies the primary inducement.
"Detroit won't need engineers," Cashen said. "They'll come down here because they're going to need jobs."
A growing number of unemployed are uprooting their lives and moving to different areas of the country for work, according to a report by Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., an outplacement firm based in Chicago.
The average relocation rate has steadily risen from 8.9 percent in the first quarter of 2008 to 18.2 percent in the second quarter of 2009. In a report by the firm, John Challenger, chief executive officer, attributed the trend to job seekers becoming more willing to lose money selling their homes and move because of their "overwhelming desire to get back to work."
| Click on stories below for more coverage. | |
|
|
|
|
However, the surge does not come close to the relocation rates of the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 1986, the quarterly relocation rate averaged 42 percent. That annual average dropped to 35 percent by 1993 and continued falling to an average 22 percent from 1994 through 2000.
About 2001, the annual relocation average rate fell to less than 20 percent for the first time. The diversified economies during that period in many cities and states allowed workers to find jobs without moving, Challenger reasoned. Also, the Internet and low air-travel costs enabled individuals to work for out-of-town companies without have to actually relocate.
"It's an easier time to get access to large volumes of people," said Brian Hulecki, a senior search consultant at Career Transitions LLC in Mishawaka. But attracting "qualified people, it's still pretty difficult."
Job openings alone will not bring individuals and families to northern Indiana, Hulecki said. They are going to size up the entire community, looking closely at schools, health care, affordability of goods and services as well as issues of safety and security.
Getting potential recruits to move here is more complicated than saying they will be able to get pastries at Amish bakeries, he said. Rather the messages have to be tailored to the specialized talent and the promotions have to show the recreation options available across the region that include Lake Michigan and Chicago.
Hulecki estimated that of all the people he has recruited to come work in northern Indiana, only about half stayed. Transplants who now call the area home, he said, see the local communities as having good schools, being close to major cities, being a good place to raise a family and having changing seasons.
Still, especially those coming from larger metropolitan areas, settling in northern Indiana often means taking significant cuts in pay and benefits, Hulecki said. Consequently finances also figure into the relocation equation.
"The way to attract people is you pay them well," Hulecki said. "If you pay them well, things tend to work out."