Survey imparts information on Electric City’s workforce

More than 2,000 people responded to a recent labor survey, and the Great Falls Development Authority is eager to share the results with prospective clients.

By BETH BRITTON
Tribune Business Editor

The Job Service Work Force Center in Great Falls joined forces with the GFDA last month to perform a weeklong labor study aimed at providing information to a financial services company looking to open a center in Great Falls.

The company would employ between 200 and 600 in the Electric City, and officials were eager to see the response to questions regarding the area’s labor force.

The full-page questionnaire, which appeared in the Tribune several times last week and was available at the Job Service, featured questions regarding computer experience, education level and management experience.

Job Service Manager Marla Schreder said that 74 percent of the people who had responded to the survey as of Monday had some post-secondary education, including 483 respondents with college degrees, 465 with some college and 205 with technical college or certificates.

More than half the respondents had at least two years of computer experience, Schreder said, and about 25 percent of them had five or more years of managerial experience.

Several out-of-state respondents and people living quite a distance from Great Falls indicated their willingness to relocate, she said. About two-thirds of the respondents are employed.

"This is fantastic information; before, we did not have information that was specific to our area," Schreder said.

Anyone who still has a questionnaire, Schreder said, should return it to the Job Service office, 1018 7th St. S., this week. The fax number is 791-5889.

Final numbers should be available early next week.

Once the information is complete, said Great Falls Development Authority’s Cheryl MacArthur, the interested company should make its decision within a few weeks.

MacArthur said she was pleasantly surprised by the number of people — especially people with management experience — who responded to the survey.

"It’s a fabulous document for us to have," she said, adding that the information gleaned from the survey will be shared with other prospective clients.

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