Southwest Florida's business community is embarking on a critical year for our future success.

The economy is booming. Unemployment is at a 30-year low. But our workforce has hit a plateau as far as availability and skills. For the past several years, many local companies have told us that finding qualified employees is becoming one of their most critical issues. Some just can't find employees. Others can find employees, but not with the skills they require.

Our challenge going into the 21st century is to improve our labor pool's depth and talent. If we can do that, we'll be very competitive. If we can't, we'll just get by.

First, we must determine what programs - training, recruiting or other - will be needed to improve our labor force. And to do that, we need better numbers on local labor demand and supply. A comprehensive Lee County Workforce Study, recently commissioned by the Horizon Council, should give us that data.

Two major parts of this study are an employer survey (to gauge demand) and a households survey (to gauge supply). Early this month, 1,500 surveys will be mailed to local businesses, and 6,000 surveys will be mailed to local residents. If you receive, or have received, one of these surveys, please complete and return it! We need your help in getting the best data available.

These surveys will be supplemented with interviews and focus groups conducted by Wadley-Donovan Group, the national consultant hired to do the study. Wadley-Donovan will conduct personal interviews with 50 of the area's larger employers and hold focus groups with smaller businesses. The fieldwork also includes interviewing local educational and training entities.

The study will tell us:

** What is local employer demand for certain types of job skills and occupations?

** What does our existing labor pool look like? What are the skill levels? Are there potential employees we don't know about? Are there people who could move up to better jobs if the opportunities existed?

** In order to match up demand and supply, do we need to institute new training programs through our local educational institutions?

Why is this so important? With this data we'll be able to better position our community to succeed in the future and develop the training programs to upgrade our workforce. If you're an employer, the programs stemming from this study will, hopefully, ensure a pipeline of trained employees to meet your needs. If you're a resident, it may help you find a job, or a better job. The better the participation we have in the study, the better the results and the better the programs that will come out of it. It's a win-win situation for everyone.

Janet Watermeier is executive director of the Economic Development Office of Lee County.