Multicounty jobs group gives annual report

Pacific Mountain Workforce Development Council CEO William Westmoreland presented the group’s annual report to commissioners at a briefing Jan. 13.

PacMtn is a regional Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act administrator and directs programs and activities using WIOA funding.

In 2014, President Barack Obama signed the act into law as the first major reform of the public workforce system in 15 years, creating a streamlined workforce training and employment program, according to PacMtn’s website.

When residents collect unemployment, they are required to connect with Workforce.

PacMtn serves Mason, Grays Harbor, Lewis, Pacific and Thurston counties.

Westmoreland said PacMtn is helping businesses find workers and developing “strategies to build a pipeline for workers needed in the future.”

He told commissioners about a local employer that needed welders.

“They need a lot of welders in order for them to be able to grow to the scale of business that they would want to be,” he said.

The company can’t just go to the existing high school technical programs or colleges to immediately find welders, according to Westmoreland.

“You have to build a strategy,” he said.

“How do we develop that talent? How do we work together?” he asked.

PacMtn initially partnered with Sierra Pacific, according to the presentation.

“The collaboration between Sierra Pacific and Elma schools, which began in 2022, continues to provide students with practical experience in manufacturing, welding, and engineering,” PacMtn’s 2023-2024 annual report states.

The council worked with employers to identify the top 30 occupations in the region, according to the presentation.

“The goal is to place 2,100 people into these high demand occupations across the region. People are excited about it,” Westmoreland said.

In Mason County, the top five in-demand occupations according to the 2023-2024 annual report are:

■ Health care diagnosing or treating practitioners, with 140 online job ads, 340 employed, $120,100 mean annual wages and projected 1.6% annual growth in a 10-year forecast.

■ Counselors, social workers and other community service specialists, with 48 online job ads, 299 employed, $60,300 mean annual wages and projected 1.9% annual growth in a 10-year forecast.

■ Occupational therapy and physical therapist assistants and aides, with 46 online job ads, eight employed, $54,900 mean annual wages and projected 2.4% annual growth in a 10-year forecast.

■ Motor vehicle operators, with 39 online job ads, 485 employed, $54,700 mean annual wages and projected 1.2% annual growth in a 10-year forecast.

■ Health technologists and technicians, with 38 online job ads, 156 employed, $60,700 mean annual wages and projected 1.4% annual growth in a 10-year forecast.

In the five-county region, employment is projected to expand by 11,380 jobs over the next five years, according to the report.

The fastest growing sector in the region is expected to be health care and social assistance, followed by public administration, and professional, scientific and technical services, according to the report.

Westmoreland said eventually PacMtn would like to have neighborhood data.

One 2028 goal, according to Westmoreland, is keeping workers in the community.

“This plan is trying to educate people in the community. You don’t have to drive to Tacoma or Thurston County for good jobs. There are good jobs available in your community. You’re just likely not aware of them,” he said.

Employers also may not be aware of potential local jobseekers.

“They don’t know how to get them to apply for jobs,” Westmoreland said.

PacMtn is trying to reach out to workers and employers where they are at, rather than have a brick-and-mortar location to connect.

What PacMtn prefers to do is ask when and where clients want to meet — the library or a coffee shop, for example, according to Westmoreland.

This saves money because a staff member doesn’t have to sit at the library waiting for people who may not come, he said.

The change has allowed PacMtn to reduce administrative costs.

“Four years ago, 83% of our resources went into staff and facilities. So that left 17% to develop training, to work with employers and to invest in individual skill sets,” Westmoreland said.

Now it’s 46% of the budget, he said.

“I’d like to know what you’re actually doing on the ground in Hoodsport, Lilliwaup, Belfair, Allyn, Tahuya, because we’re a county of 67,000 people. Some of those areas are 45 minutes to an hour away from Shelton. So it’s wonderful to have these things but we have a lot more that needs to be looked at,” Commissioner Randy Neatherlin said.

Westmoreland talked about the “change in which we deliver services,” and said the council is trying to serve jobseekers and employers.

Once PacMtn identifies what those needed occupations are the “we build a cohort training model to address that training gap,” he said.

Neatherlin was concerned about residents finding PacMtn.

“If you’re not there, they’re not going to get to you,” he said.

“Out there in that area, they’re not going to ... if they have to hunt you, they’re not going to find you,” Neatherlin said. “That may be good in a city,” he added.

Westmoreland said that while most people search for jobs online from home, he agreed that not everyone in Mason County had adequate, reliable internet or the skill set to use it.

Commissioner Sharon Trask said she previously had the same concerns as Neatherlin.

“Seeing the change in what Pac Mountain is now, from what they were, is just amazing. The outreach, the services being provided ... I am just so proud to be a member of the PacMountan team now,” Trask, who represents Mason County on PacMtn’s Consortium Committee, said.