The challenges of finding good workers took center stage Tuesday as various stakeholders in the Flathead Valley’s economy — from local bankers to out-of-town ski visitors — packed the Hilton Garden Inn in Kalispell for the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of Montana’s Economic Outlook Seminar.

Economic and industry experts presented to the diverse crowd as part of a statewide tour to discuss economic trends over the past year.

This year’s seminar focused on a crucial theme for the Flathead Valley’s economy: “Finding Good Workers: New Challenges, New Solutions.”

Bureau Director Patrick Barkey said the number of unfilled positions across the country has more than doubled in the last eight years. In Flathead County, the unemployment rate as of November 2019 was 4.6%.

Barkey attributed the worker shortage, which is being felt at national and local levels, to a few factors, including the demographic makeup of the workforce, particularly when it comes to the aging baby-boomer population, the strong overall economy and mismatches between workers, the skills required for jobs and the geographic location of those positions.

Barkey predicted influences such as the 2020 election, migrating workers and the interests of future workers, especially those currently in high school, will shape this workforce shortage moving forward.

He suggested companies can focus on raising wages, being more flexible with job requirements, investing in training and recruitment of future and current workers, reconfiguring job roles and trying to avoid turning down work over concerns about staffing.

He also advised policymakers to work on boosting the retirement age, offering childcare options, increasing female labor-force participation, adjusting the U.S. immigration policy to bring in more foreign workers, growing the teenage workforce, rethinking drug-testing policies and licensing requirements, particularly state-to-state, and considering nontraditional employees such as those who have served prison time.

But Barkey acknowledged, good-naturedly, “What policymakers can do might not get them re-elected because some of these things are a little different and not very popular.”

Industry leaders from across the state also summarized trends from the past year and expectations for 2020.

This year’s seminar marked the first year the event focused on tech and startups as an industry in and of itself. Christina Henderson with the Montana High Tech Business Alliance said this development points to the growing importance of these modern businesses to the Montana economy, especially in the Flathead.

Henderson also highlighted a number of other positive indicators of the local and statewide tech industries. For example, four of the Montana High Tech Business Alliance’s seven board members are from the Flathead Valley, whereas all of the members when Henderson joined the organization in 2014 were from Bozeman. Montana’s “high-tech sector” — which includes software companies, technology consultants, biotech, technology manufacturers and other technological fields — is growing nine times faster than the overall Montana economy; and venture capital funding has increased tenfold in the past five years.

In 2015, venture capital funding in Montana was the lowest in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, Henderson reported. With more than $100 million invested by 2019, Montana’s venture capital funding now ranks 33rd in the country, according to PwC and CB Insights’ MoneyTree Report of state rankings.

“The outlook is very positive,” Henderson said as she lauded local technology companies such as Applied Materials in Kalispell and Neuro-ID in Whitefish as examples of this upward trend.

Meanwhile, Montana’s more traditional industries such as forestry and agriculture have struggled more recently.

George Haynes from Montana State University said agriculture in Montana is adversely affected by trade issues, such as Chinese tariffs, weather events like the Australian wildfires and low prices on products like wheat and beef, especially in the Flathead.

“The weather plays a huge role,” Haynes pointed out.

And based on the products produced here and being targeted in the trade war with China, Barkey said, “Montana is highly exposed to retaliatory tariffs.”

Likewise, manufacturing is reportedly being hard-hit by labor shortages and forestry business is generally shrinking as major players such as Weyerhaeuser are selling off their Montana timberlands.

Even though manufacturing industries are growing in Montana, the worker shortage and skills mismatch is apparently being felt particularly strongly in this sector. Todd Morgan, the associate director of the BBER, said more than a quarter of manufacturers surveyed in 2019 reported being unable to find qualified workers.

Difficulties finding housing and transportation also factor into this shortage, especially since many manufacturing and forestry jobs are located in more rural parts of the state

But overall, Barkey said the economic outlook from the local area to the national scale is uncertain. Touching on a concern on the top of most people’s minds at the seminar, he said, “What’s the bottom line…is the U.S. economic expansion coming to an end? The short answer is nobody really knows.”

To wrap up the meeting, Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari offered more insight into the national economy and heard from community members about their concerns.

The Minneapolis Fed is one of 12 Federal Reserve Banks across the country, and it covers the region that includes, Montana, Minnesota, North and South Dakota, northwestern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

As one of the reserve bank presidents across the country, Kashkari said, “Our jobs are to know what’s happening here in our local economy.”

He explained the Fed presidents — who determine nationwide monetary policies and set interest rates — operate with two main goals in mind: maximizing employment and maintaining stable prices.

Most event attendees took the opportunity to speak with Kashkari during his first visit to Northwest Montana to get updates on national trends. Kashkari was asked about topics like immigration policies, childcare opportunities and the Fed’s role in dealing with the impacts of climate change.

Kashkari will use feedback from his recent visits with local business leaders to inform decisions he makes with other Fed presidents in Washington, D.C., during their regular Federal Open Market Committee meetings. The next meeting is tentatively scheduled for March 17 and 18.

Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at bserbin@dailyinterlake.com or 758-4459.