Talent is the Currency of Economic Development

Landrum President, Kara Bloomberg, spoke at the Upstate Talent Forum, where she shared insights from Landrum’s 55+ years of supporting businesses with their workforce needs. During her presentation, Kara explored how workforce structures, mindsets, and expectations are evolving and why stabilization is critical to economic development.

Below are the key takeaways and insights from Kara’s presentation.

The Pause and the Pivot

Today’s economic climate feels like a “collective pause.” Hiring plans are slowing, investments are being reconsidered, and many leaders are waiting for clarity.

Across the country, businesses, educators, and government leaders are confronting the same question: How do we prepare the workforce of tomorrow when the ground beneath us is shifting so quickly today?

This pause is really a pivot point.

Because beneath that pause, something more profound is happening. The workforce is shifting, not just in terms of size, but also in structure, mindset, and expectations.

We are living through a once-in-a-generation reset of what work looks like, who participates in it, and how communities support it. For decades, economic growth followed a predictable pattern: attract investment, create jobs, and people would follow. Today, that order has flipped. People now drive opportunities, not the other way around.

And that means talent strategy is no longer just an HR concern. It is an economic development issue. It is a competitiveness issue. It is a community issue.

Kara introduced the concept of parallel tracks:

• Track 1: Address immediate challenges, maintain operations, and stabilize teams.
• Track 2: Build future strategies, invest in workforce development, partnerships, and talent pipelines.

Talent is the engine that drives innovation, productivity, and community prosperity. And just as important, talent strategy is local. Every region has its own dynamics, challenges, and strengths.

“The regions that invest in their people during the pause will lead the next wave of growth.”

Why the Small Business Voice Matters

When discussing workforce development, we often focus on large employers: the manufacturers, healthcare systems, and logistics giants whose investments shape regional economies.

But the truth is that most Americans work for small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs): the suppliers, contractors, innovators, and service providers who form the backbone of local economies.

These businesses are where many careers begin and where creativity and adaptability thrive. Yet, they often lack the resources to plan for the future because the demands of the present consume them.

As one business owner told us, “No one can plan for the work when everyone is busy just doing the work.”

That is why workforce stabilization is so important. When small businesses have the breathing room to retain their employees, they can finally start investing in growth, including upskilling, automation, innovation, and leadership development. This may involve building an AI strategy, creating automation roadmaps, and testing new technologies.

At Landrum, we believe Workforce stabilization is not just an HR strategy. It is an economic development strategy.

At the same time, hiring is already evolving within large employers. They are shifting hiring requirements and searching for candidates with experience not only in navigating automation and AI, but also in change management.

No one can plan for the work when everyone is busy just doing the work. SMBs are moving more slowly to adapt their hiring practices and evolve their skill set requirements because, in general, they are barely scratching the surface of planning for what’s next in their workforce strategy.

If we leave small businesses behind, we’re not just leaving behind employers; we’re leaving behind the people they employ.

Together, we have an ecosystem that’s more resilient and better equipped to weather economic change. That’s why it’s so critical that the small business voice be amplified as a cornerstone of how we build regional workforce ecosystems.

At Landrum, we see the SMB story up close through our own clients. Kara shared examples of how our clients across the country are staying ahead of workforce shifts and where they need our support most.

Building Belonging in Tennessee

One of our favorite examples comes from a Tennessee manufacturing client caught in the middle of a workforce storm.

This company manufactures a diverse range of products, including steering and driveline systems, bearings, machining equipment, and machine tools. It’s precise and technical work where reliability, timing, and attention to detail matter every single day. For years, they had it down to a science. Their workforce was loyal, turnover was manageable, and operations ran like clockwork.

But then the labor market shifted, and retention dropped to 28%, vacancies were piling up, and productivity was declining. The plant had long been a local fixture, but in a tight labor market, candidates had more choices, and they were asking different questions: not just “What is the pay?” but “What does this job lead to?”

That shift from hiring to belonging changed everything for this manufacturer. The plant was losing good employees before they even reached full productivity, and supervisors were spending their time reacting.

Instead of focusing solely on filling positions, the company asked a better question: “How do we become the kind of place where people want to stay, where they can see a future?”

The company redesigned its onboarding process to feel more personal, launched mentorship programs, and created clear career paths that showed employees how to progress from entry-level “A Tech” roles to more advanced “B Tech” and leadership positions. Training happened during paid hours, reinforcing that development was not an extra but a priority.

Within six months, retention soared from 28% to 85%. The company quickly filled 90 production vacancies, stabilized productivity, and built a pipeline of 15–20 pre-qualified candidates for future roles. The workforce became more confident, more skilled, and more connected to the company’s success.  Morale improved, and soon the word was out: “This is a great place to work.”

The ripple effects reached beyond the company: wages grew, community stability improved, and the region gained a stronger reputation as a place where businesses and people can succeed together.

And when community connections strengthen, the ripple effect will extend far beyond their walls:

• Economic impact: A more stable plant means more local supplier contracts, more consistent production schedules, and higher regional output.
• Wage growth: As employees move from A Tech to B Tech, household incomes rise — and that spending flows directly into local businesses.
• Community stability: Fewer people cycling through jobs means more people putting down roots — buying homes, investing in schools, and contributing to the local tax base.
• Regional competitiveness: Their success signals to other employers and potential investors that this region can develop and retain skilled talent.

This manufacturer went from being vulnerable to being vital, not because they found more people, but because they found a better way to invest in the people they already had.

Stabilizing a Healthcare Workforce in Florida

A similar story unfolded in Florida, where a multispecialty healthcare practice was caught in a cycle of constant hiring and retraining. Managers had little time to lead or plan because they were stuck reacting to turnover.

To break the cycle, the practice partnered with Landrum’s workforce management team to take over hiring, onboarding, and early-stage development. The impact was immediate: new hires were better matched, better trained, and more motivated to stay. Managers regained the capacity to lead instead of firefight, and patient care scores began to rise.

The results speak for themselves:

• Turnover slowed dramatically, creating stability across teams.
• Patient care scores improved, reflecting consistency and quality.
• Leadership gained bandwidth to build a long-term talent roadmap, including partnerships with community colleges for certifications and career pathways.
• Exploration of AI and automation began, targeting administrative tasks and opening doors for new technical roles.

Once stability returned, leadership could finally look forward—designing career pathways and certifications that helped entry-level employees advance.

This evolution, from survival mode to strategic workforce development, underscores a powerful truth: you build a workforce strategy while living it. Each small step forward creates the capacity for the next one.

What’s the Regional Economic Impact?

• Stabilizing entry-level healthcare positions created consistent employment for local residents and improved household income stability.
• Improved patient care enhanced the healthcare system’s reputation, attracting more patients from across the region and supporting related healthcare businesses.
• The new training partnerships with local colleges now benefit the entire regional healthcare ecosystem, creating a steady pipeline of skilled talent for multiple providers.
• As retention improved, it freed up local talent for other employers, strengthening the broader labor market and supporting regional economic growth.

Talent as Infrastructure

Whether it is a Tennessee manufacturer, or a Florida healthcare practice, each story shares one truth: talent is infrastructure.

People are the foundation of economic development, like roads, energy, and internet. When businesses invest in their workforce, they invest in the resilience of their entire community.

At Landrum, we believe workforce strategy is not just about filling jobs; it is about building systems that make opportunity sustainable.

That is how regions compete.
That is how economies grow.
And that is how we turn talent into the true engine of economic development.

Building Tomorrow’s Workforce Today

Building tomorrow’s workforce starts with the choices we make today. At Landrum, we’ve spent decades helping organizations adapt to change and thrive in evolving markets. Whether it’s navigating shifting workforce expectations or creating strategies for long-term stability, our experience can help you stay ahead. Let’s work together to build a stronger, more resilient future.