State labor officials say Iowa has an abundance of good-paying jobs in a wide range of professions and too few workers trained to fill them. There are plenty of openings in what are considered “middle-skill” jobs. Kerry Koonce, spokeswoman for Iowa Workforce Development, says those jobs require at least a high school diploma and additional training or schooling.”So it’s some kind of a certification, maybe an apprenticeship, up to a two-year degree,” Koonce says. “While people don’t always think about those jobs as being high-paying jobs, those jobs can be anything from a dental hygienist to a welder to everything in between and they are very good-paying jobs.” 

She says there’s a “mismatch” of job opportunities and worker skill sets in Iowa right now. Koonce says, “We have these middle skill jobs, which amount to about 50% of our overall jobs in the state right now, but only 33% of the individuals out there in the workforce meet that skill set.” There is a way to fix the problem, she says, as parents can encourage their children to pursue training beyond high school, if not to a four-year college, then to a community college or an apprenticeship. She also looks to Iowans who’ve already been in the workforce for years who are looking for a new avenue.

“We need people that have been unemployed to be taking advantage of the re-training dollars that are available to them,” Koonce says. “Maybe they’ve been laid off from a manufacturing company and they’re looking at re-skilling. They need to take advantage of the opportunities that are out there to fund training, to go back to school, to bring their skill sets up to meet the demand that’s out there now.” 

As for Iowa’s low-skill jobs, about 18% of the state’s current openings are in that category, requiring a high school diploma or less, yet 38% of the current workforce is considered low-skilled. Koonce says high-skill jobs, those requiring at least a four-year college degree, are about evenly matched with workers.

(Matt Kelley/Radio Iowa)

The Cass County Board of Supervisors approved a Fiscal Year 2012 budget amendment during their meeting this (Wednesday) Morning, in Atlantic. The budget amendment was required due to the receipt of funds from Mid-American Energy by the Secondary Roads Department, for damage done to County roads during the installation of wind turbines in the Massena area. County Engineer Charles Marker says the County expended money for road rock and work on the roads above and beyond his original budget. The budget needed to be amended, he said, to offset those costs. The entire amount of the money received was incorporated into this year’s budget. The money stays within the Secondary Roads’ fund for supplies and work to be conducted next Fiscal Year, beginning July 1^st. 

Auditor Dale Sunderman said the only other reason, although not required in the amended budget, is to change the amount appropriations for transfers from an unexpected increase in Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) revenues, and Iowa Department of Transportation. Sunderman said the County Budget was amended to reflect $382,467 for Secondary Roads, and increase in transfers from the Local Option Sales Tax in the amount of $15,000.

Several road and bridge projects in Cass County are complete or are wrapping up soon. Engineer Charles Marker says the bridge south of Highway 92 by Steinbeck’s is now open and all work is complete on that project. Marker says the bridge on South Olive Street is nearly finished, with final dirt work being conducted on the south approaches to the bridge. Some seeding and guardrail work is also planned, but the bridge is expected to be opened with the next week or so. In addition, pavement patching work on the Marne Road is complete, but the project will be put on hold until an overlay is ready to be applied sometime between now and this fall, when the contractor is free from other projects.