Keeping the lights on

During the economic decline that followed the 1971 closing of the U.S. Steel plant in Duluth, someone posted a sign along the North Shore saying, “Will the last one to leave Duluth please turn out the lights.”

Now the region is poised for an economic revival, but many young people aren’t aware of it. “Kids have the perception that they have to leave the area to find jobs,” said Jay Belcastro, marketing teacher at the Proctor High School.

To address this issue, the Proctor High School DECA creative marketing team surveyed area high schoolers. (DECA is Delta Epsilon Chi, an international association of students who study business.) They called their effort “Project Keeping the Light On.”

On March 11 the Proctor team's project won first place in the 2008 DECA state competition in Minneapolis. The team is now fundraising to attend the international competition in Atlanta, April 26-29.

The Proctor team earned first place creative marketing awards in the international competitions of 2004, 2006, and 2007. Past winning projects addressed sustainable building practices, how nonprofits can raise funds, and how Superior-based Amsoil can market its synthetic motor oil.

With the Iron Range a potential site for more than 20 new developments and $5 billion in potential investment, and thousands of construction and permanent jobs in the wings, there’s growing regional concern over the looming workforce crisis.

Over the next five to 10 years, an estimated 75,000 baby boomers in Northeastern Minnesota and Northwest Wisconsin will retire, according to forecasts by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). Even if every high school graduate in the northeast region remained to work, there still would be 35,000 job vacancies.

In the team’s 2006-2007 survey of 407 students at five area high schools, more than 37 percent said they planned to leave the area after graduation.

This school year the team broadened its scope to 449 students at 17 area schools in 11 Minnesota and Wisconsin counties. The survey had two goals: to determine what motivates high school students in making their educational and career plans and which media are most influential in reaching them as a demographic.

One of the survey’s revelations was the extent to which parents influence their children’s careers. “Parents are the major driving force,” said Ryan Stapple, DECA team leader and a senior at Proctor High School.

Fifty-four percent of those surveyed said parents are extremely helpful in choosing careers, 84 percent said parents are at least somewhat helpful. Parents were cited as the ones with whom students spent the most time talking about careers.

Friends are the second-biggest influence on career plans. Guidance counselors have the least influence.

“The team’s report definitely highlighted some gaps,” said Jeff Borling, research and community manager at APEX (Area Partnership for Economic Expansion). “We need to be educating the parents as to what’s out there. Leaving parents out of the loops means you’re not speaking to the main source.”

Another surprise: Sixty-three percent of students believe the future jobs available in the region will require a minimum four years of college.

In fact, two-thirds of the jobs in the region over the next five to 10 years will require just two years of college or on the job training.

The team presented its current project to members of the Arrowhead Manufacturers and Fabricators Association at Northstar Aerospace on Feb. 15. “It’s refreshing that people will listen to students,” said Diane Rauschenfels, superintendent of Proctor Schools.

Other survey findings include:

• Only 24 percent of students are very clear about choosing a career; this means that 76 percent of students can be guided to stay and choose a job in the region.

• More than 55 percent of students have no plans for college and more than 43 percent of students have no career plan. “Colleges and high schools need to work harder to inform young adults of the opportunities available in the Northland,” the report states.

• Courses at schools, job shadows, job site visits, and internships were rated the most useful career exploration activities. Internet career assessments like MCIS (Minnesota Career Information System) were rated least helpful.

“This means that there is help for students out there, but the quality is not up to par, or it is not marketed enough to students — or both,” the report states.

• Students believe most jobs that will be available to them in the next five to 10 years primarily will be in the medical field, but only 20 percent plan a medical career.

• Contrary to popular belief, high school students find MySpace and Celebrity to be among the least useful for career exploration, but career Web sites are the most useful.

“With parents being the No. 1 influence and MySpace and celebrities being the least influential, marketing to students becomes very easy,” the report states.

“There’s a lot of information out there for students but it’s just scattered,” said Stapple, the DECA student leader.

The report suggests creating a Web site connecting students, parents, the community, businesses, governmental bodies and educators. But Stapple said putting up the site is too massive a project for the high school team.

Borling of APEX said the advisory board was surprised to learn how little students were using www.thenorthlandworks.org, the collaborative Web site aimed at retaining young people in the area. It points to the need for better promotion, he said.

Stapple suggests sending information by regular mail to parents, who are less likely to use the Internet.

Meanwhile, the student study offers these recommendations to businesses and workforce organizations:

• Get involved with the schools, becoming more involved with career fairs.

• Let students visit the work place so they can see what jobs are available, and see first-hand what each job entails on a daily basis.

• Host “job shadows,” students who work with someone for a day. The team’s advisors are representatives from APEX, The Northland Works, DEED, Minnesota Power and Proctor School District.

People wishing to help with to the Proctor team's expenses for the 2008 international competition may send checks to Proctor DECA, 131 9th Ave., Proctor, MN 55810.