Trending
Kate Bowermaster, a 2006 MHS graduate and lifelong area resident, is passionate about creating a positive workplace culture wherever she goes, and she's already bringing that enthusiasm to her new role as the Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce's workforce development director.
Over the last few weeks, Bowermaster, who most recently served as the marketing coordinator at Bruin Manufacturing and led the culture community, has been acquainting herself with the ins and outs of the position and establishing relationships within the local business community. When Chamber President/CEO John Hall first reached out to her about the job, she quickly found herself intrigued.
"What he had told me initially sounded like something I'd be interested in doing. Some of it sounded similar to what I was already doing at Bruin -- connecting with employers around town, attending career fairs and things like that," she said. "So that initially sounded interesting to me and made me want to meet and learn more about the job."
Hall said he was impressed with Bowermaster's skill set and her background working at a relatively small employer, noting that while her title wasn't in human resources, a lot of the things she was doing were "things we would connect in with our HR community."
"Being that she was working at a small employer and having to then navigate some of these systems and resources that we have available, that is exactly what we want in this role is somebody who knows how to connect to those, knows how to navigate those and then can guide some of our other employers, and in particular some of our smaller and midsize employers," Hall said. "Our largest employers, they have folks that are used to navigating these. They know how to, but how can we be a better resource for our small and midsize companies? And that's where this all worked well."
Bowermaster expects the job to entail connecting with all employers regardless of their size, learning about the struggles they face and seeing if they can help each other through these challenges while also attracting more people to the Marshalltown area and retaining them once they're hired. As Hall explained, at the end of the day, workforce development is economic development and vice versa.
During her first few weeks, Bowermaster has been encouraged by how many people have reached out to connect with her, and she sees her biggest challenge as building up the workforce and matching the right employees with the right employers. Hall added that in the post-COVID economy, filling entry level roles has become as challenging as ever.
"I would say some of our larger industries are in a better position than they have been the last three years, but what's hurting are a lot of the entry level roles that we used to have no issue filling," Hall said. "It's in part just because of global workforce shifts that we aren't immune to here. We know we have more people retiring out of the workforce every day than we have coming into the workforce, so entry level positions are always gonna be the hardest to fill (and) the hardest to staff. As we work with employers, it's also researching tools and resources for figuring out how they can reduce their overall staff while still meeting the demands of their business and demands of their customers."
And of course, those who are entering the workforce have different expectations and values than those who came before them.
"Company culture is a big deal to a lot of people, and I think moreso to this generation than it was 20 or 30 years ago," Bowermaster said.
She'll get an early test through her involvement in the second installment of the revamped Leadership Marshalltown course, but Bowermaster is excited to dive head first into the challenge. In her free time, she enjoys doing CrossFit and having fun with her husband and their two children.
The Chamber's offices are located at 34 W. Main St., and they can be reached at (641) 753-6645.
------
Contact Robert Maharry
at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or
rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.