Many Midwest organizations are facing significant workforce shortages. These issues are not new and will require a significant and coordinated effort to resolve. Workforce is discussed from 1950 until today to explain the various causes of the current shortages and then projections for the next two decades are discussed. A new approach to looking at the workforce is highlighted which includes key steps a company or community can take to help address their workforce needs.

 

Dr. Ron Cox is an aerospace engineer with a B.S. and Ph.D. from Iowa State University. His early career included work designing airfoils and fighter aircraft for a large defense contractor. Later he served as a C-level executive at a small manufacturer of cooling towers.

Ron was also an Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering professor at the University of Oklahoma. He conducted computational modeling research on hypersonic vehicles, taught undergraduate and graduate courses, and received the university's outstanding teacher award.

More recently, he served as the director of a business outreach unit, associate dean of corporate engagement, and assistant vice president of extension at Iowa State University. Part of his responsibilities included management of $40 million of grants and contracts supporting economic development activities.

Ron currently runs Midwest Workforce Strategies, a consulting company that helps organizations understand Midwest workforce challenges and design plans to grow their labor force.