Campaign seeks to update narrative: the area has jobs

BINGHAMTON — What you think you know about the Southern Tier’s economy may be wrong — or at least not up to date.

There are thousands of job openings in the region. More than 4,000 in fact, says Stacey Duncan, deputy director of community and economic development for The Agency, Broome County’s industrial development agency.

“It’s been an eye-opening experience for us,” she says of discovering just how high is the demand for workers in the region.”

The new knowledge prompted the development of a public-awareness campaign, called “Jobs. Broome. Now.” 

“If we didn’t know this then certainly the public isn’t as aware,” Duncan says. The new campaign, which includes a website, commercials and other outreach, builds on the “Broome is Good” campaign that stressed the quality of life available in the region.

“It was building pride of place,” Duncan says of the program that began in the fall of 2016.

As part of its efforts, the Agency reached out to area employers, creating the Broome Talent Task Force. What employers said was consistent, Duncan recounts: “I could grow. I just can’t find the people.”

That task force, with 30 employers from different industries and institutions, identified a need to develop the region’s future workforce. Part of that meant letting people know there were jobs available in the Southern Tier.

Duncan recounts that the idea that there were no jobs grew over time as the large firms that once dominated the landscape closed or moved away. Over time, the idea that “there are no jobs, slowly became the narrative” in the Southern Tier.

That story drove people to assume they had to move to succeed. Parents even developed a “tendency to encourage children to go elsewhere,” Duncan says.

The new campaign is part of an effort to change that narrative, change the perception about the region so young people recognize they don’t have to move away to have a good life. 

“We’re saying to people, this is a place of opportunity,” Duncan notes. “We’re going from ‘there are no jobs’ to ‘there are jobs — consider them.’ “

School districts are involved in the effort, Duncan says, as educators and as employers. One of the messages that she says needs to be communicated is that students can graduate high school and walk into good careers in manufacturing or skilled trades.

For others, there are training programs to prepare them for the jobs that are in demand now, she says. One program trains workers for warehouse jobs and comes with a guarantee of employment for graduates.

The website, www.broomeisgood.com, contains links to aggregated job listings. A quick search under “construction,” finds more than 20 openings. “Software” yields nearly twice as many available positions. Another 20 job listings appear in a search under “manufacturing,” with some of the jobs listed just days before.

Targeting young workers and high-school students who may join the workforce shortly, the “Jobs. Broome. Now.” campaign is utilizing social media — targeting younger people on Instagram and their parents on Facebook.

“We know it’s important to hit a very specific age group,” Duncan says.

The need to do that is heightened by the expected shift in demographics, she adds. “About 30 percent of the workforce will be aging out in the next five to eight years — that’s what our data analysis says.”

It’s not news to businesses that have been trying to find workers. “I think everyone is cognizant of the workforce situation,” Duncan says, “but they are still looking to expand.”