Expect workforce to be the theme of 2020 in the region’s business community. Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce President Heather Kasten said the number one challenge businesses will face in the coming year has to do with attracting and retaining skilled workers. 

“The first challenge is the ability for our companies to find the right people for the jobs that are at hand,” she said. 

That means working with higher education leaders to ensure the graduates coming out of college have the right skill set to fill the jobs available at this moment in time.  If the education provided in the region doesn’t align, that means talent will go elsewhere while companies in the region still struggle to fill their ranks. 

Kasten said just recently at the Chamber, the organization posted an opening and got back 500 resumes, many with lists of short stints job-hopping around other companies. But firms in the region want to invest effort and time into employees who learn their skills and then continue to be an assert for the businesses.

It’s why the Chamber has focused effort on programs like CareerEdge, which seeks to upskill workers to climb the ranks within their organization, and also has a robust internship support program making sure there is money to attract pre-employees and convert many of them into full-time workers.

Hasten also said there’s been a renewed focus in 2019 on better broadcasting the industry assets of the region. For example, a number of major insurance firms like FCCI keep their headquarters in Sarasota. 

“We’re known for tourism and real estate,” she said, “but if you look at what has really emerged, the insurance sector is huge. Are we doing enough to promote ourselves as a place where you can have a career in insurance? We can’t be all things to all people, but what are our gifts and our strongest sectors? What do we have a good concentration of and how can we promote that outside the state?”

The Chamber in 2020 plans to conduct a sort of industry inventory, and with that see the assets that may get overlooked in traditional business marketing. That should bring long-term economic resilience for the area’s economy and long-term prospects.