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In September of 2001, The Pathfinders, a site selection consulting firm from Dallas, Texas, completed a workforce study of west central Indiana.  The study focused on Clay, Fountain, Montgomery, Owen, Parke, Putnam, Sullivan, Vermillion, Vigo and Warren Counties in Indiana. Six additional counties in Illinois were also surveyed as part of the study.  Both individuals and companies were surveyed.

The results indicated the following:

• A new employer should be able to attract employees from a pool of about 47,800 UNDEREMPLOYED workers in the 19-49 age group, 24,100 who are unemployed and seeking work, and 13,550 who are not working but contemplating re-entering the workforce.
  

• Those workers posses the skills, experience, and education to qualify them for pay rates at which they would take a new job ranging from less than $7.00 to over $25.00 per hour.
   

• Nearly 50% would take a better job, if offered by a new employer and who posses the skills, education, and experience to qualify them for the job, for less than $13.00 per hour.
   

• Over 31% of those individuals have some college, 11% have an associate degree and more than 18% have a 4-year college degree or more.  As these data relate only to those underemployed, they will vary from data representative of the population as a whole.

• Previous experience includes manufacturing/industrial at 68%; warehouse/material handling at 38%, and service at 49%.

• The area workforce received high marks for productivity with more than 75% of the companies surveyed reporting productivity as excellent (17%) or good (58%).  Many of the companies interviewed stated that their local operation compared favorably or surpassed operations in other locations in terms of profitability and production.

• Most companies, 65%, reported turnover to be low, in addition, 71% reported absenteeism to be low.