What do you envision as Fort Worth's future? A great economy? Prosperity for people across the region? In order to achieve that vision, we will have to address some very real problems.
Jobs Imbalance Although the population of the Fort Worth Metropolitan Division is roughly half of the Dallas Metropolitan Division, the Fort Worth region accounts for only 30 percent of all jobs in the DFW metro area - nearly 1.1 million jobs - compared with 70 percent of all jobs in the Dallas Metropolitan Division, roughly 2.6 million jobs, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Talent Gap According to the American Community Survey, the percentage of Fort Worth's population with a bachelor's degree or higher is only 30.7 percent, below the national average 31.3 percent. Roughly half of high school students in the region enroll in college by the fall after graduation and roughly a quarter of adults over 25 have some college credit, but no degree. Twenty percent of Tarrant County students complete community college programs in three years, and roughly half of Tarrant County students complete a bachelor's degree in six years.
Quality of Place Quandary Despite having an unemployment rate of 6.4 percent, Fort Worth also has a poverty rate of 18 percent. Income, affordable child care and housing costs make it difficult for Fort Worth residents to live near where they work, leading to transportation challenges and longer commute times for workers. These challenges make it difficult to attract and retain talent in our region.
Addressing These Challenges The talent goals in the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce's four-year Fortify strategy are designed to directly address these challenges.
1. Increase population ages 25 and over with bachelor's degrees, associate degrees, licenses or certificates by 5 percent. Increasing the education level of our population will create a stronger business climate by making our region more competitive for businesses looking to relocate to North Texas and local businesses struggling to find talent. Increased education levels also help create economic prosperity for all by helping increase median income and decrease poverty.
2. Increase targeted industries" talent supply by 10 percent. Increasing postsecondary attainment alone is not enough to solve our talent challenges. We must also make sure that our talent supply has the specific skills and credentials in demand by target industries such as aviation, logistics, health care and technology.
The Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce will work to achieve these two goals through strategies in three categories.
1. Convene industry groups to develop industry-specific solutions to talent challenges. We will bring together industry leaders to discuss talent needs. Each sector partnership will eventually develop its own talent development, attraction and retention strategy.
2. Convene stakeholders to discuss eliminating barriers to college and career success. We will work with colleges to create more student-friendly processes and pathways. We'll also work with community organizations to address challenges that keep people from getting to work or completing a degree or training program, including poverty, housing, child care and transportation. We will report our community's progress in increasing postsecondary attainment, increasing our talent supply, and improving our quality of place. That includes creating ecosystem maps to identify gaps, overlaps and opportunities for better alignment of community resources.
3. Market talent solutions and market the Fort Worth region as a talent destination. We will work with employers and workforce/education professionals to promote current best practices in talent development, attraction and retention that benefit businesses. Around those, we will develop strategies to attract talent in targeted industries to the Fort Worth region and work to retain talent from local colleges.
By Brandom Gengelbach
Executive Vice President of Economic Development
Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce