Editor’s Note: This is the first of a rotating column to appear each week featuring the viewpoints of four leaders in Kaua‘i’s business community. At a recent meeting I heard the fire chief remark that he had noticed a marked
Editor’s Note: This is the first of a rotating column to appear each week featuring the viewpoints of four leaders in Kaua‘i’s business community.
At a recent meeting I heard the fire chief remark that he had noticed a marked increase in medical calls for the elderly on Kaua‘i. The numbers were significant, but should hardly be surprising due to the realities of our aging population. As more and more baby boomers come “of age,” the impact to our health care system is hard to fathom much less calculate. The impact to our workforce is also noteworthy: More people are leaving the workforce than entering it. In the future, who will care for our aunties, uncles and grandparents? Who will staff our fire department, emergency medical services, hospitals and clinics?
Anyone who is in business knows the worker shortage is real here on Kaua‘i. Many economists agree that a healthy unemployment rate is roughly 4 percent. Kaua‘i’s rate as of October 2007 was 2.4 percent — among the lowest in the nation. Health care-related businesses are among those desperately seeking skilled workers on a regular basis.
It makes sense that health and wellness is one of six industry “clusters” that has been identified in the “Kaua‘i Economic Development Plan 2005-2015” for targeted growth. It’s an industry that will need to grow in order to satisfy the demand for services, but also provides a wide range of good paying jobs. It also draws a customer base from both the resident and visitor population. According to the state Department of Labor, the two highest paid occupations on Kaua‘i are pharmacists and health diagnosing and treating practitioners.
The county and others are taking action to create more of these types of jobs and cultivate an appropriately skilled workforce for the future. Mayor Bryan Baptiste firmly believes that the future of our children — and their ability to stay on Kaua‘i once they’ve grown — is tied to insuring that these good job opportunities are offered to them first. Here are two county initiatives relating to the health care industry:
• Kaua‘i Health and Wellness Association: The association is a nonprofit membership organization formed in 2005 to help the industry grow through networking, marketing, advocacy and professional development. Businesses that join can find strength in numbers and, as a group, create more opportunities for themselves while offering residents and visitors a wider range of health care options. There are many benefits to joining the Kaua‘i Health and Wellness Association, and I encourage you to visit its Web site at www.kauaihwa.org.
• Team Health: Team Health is part of Baptiste’s workforce development initiative to expose our keiki to promising career opportunities at the earliest ages. This effort requires the commitment of our business community to partner with and volunteer in our schools, and to be active, positive role models. Team Health volunteers have demonstrated for keiki at numerous venues how to be healthy and how to achieve professional success. More volunteers from the business community are needed, and we encourage you to join by calling our office at (808) 241-6390.
The workforce challenges of today can become the opportunities of tomorrow through concerted efforts at job growth and workforce development in the industries that make sense for Kaua‘i. If you’d like to learn more about health and wellness or the five other industries targeted for growth, review the Kaua‘i Economic Development Plan at www.kauai.gov/business
• Beth Tokioka is director of Kaua‘i County’s Office of Economic Development. She can be reached at btokioka@kauai.gov
