JACKSON, Tenn. — West Tennessee’s economy has been lagging behind other regions in the state but is starting to make inroads in employment growth and technology-related hirings, a new report says.
The region’s mayors and economic development officials met Thursday at Jackson State Community College to review the report, The Jackson Sun reported. The study was financed by a $50,000 grant given by the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
The study shows that from 2004 to 2014, West Tennessee was behind Middle and East Tennessee in average annual growth in employment. But the study projects West Tennessee to do better than East Tennessee over the next 10 years.
The study also shows West Tennessee was behind in science, technology, engineering and math jobs. But the report shows the region is currently growing faster and will continue to grow faster than East Tennessee in those jobs in the next decade.
Mike Smith, executive director of the Southwest Human Resource Agency, said the information in the report was helpful.
“We’ve been behind for 10 years, so it hasn’t just started,” Smith said. “I think to understand how to get better I think you have to understand why and what you can do to impact change.”
One of the major points of the report was the region’s lack of economic diversity.
The jobs in West Tennessee are outdated and the area should look toward finance and technology jobs in the future, said Brian Points, who presented findings from the study completed by Economic Modeling Specialists Intl., a company out of Idaho.
Another major point was getting people to realize the importance and possibilities of “middle-skill categories,” but also getting those people educated to be able to accept those jobs.
“I think that hopefully we’re able to dispel this concept that the workforce is the problem in West Tennessee,” Points said. “I think there’s an information gap about which jobs are available and I think the workforce that is available is more skilled than many people think.”