Greene County Development Corporation is looking to different resources to help with the county’s workforce shortages.

GCDC President Sid Jones visited with the Greene County Board of Supervisors and the Jefferson City Council last week about a new program called Latino IQ. The owner is Carlos Agulleio, who is a Carroll High School graduate and after graduating from the University of Northern Iowa, worked for John Deere for ten years, with some of that time spent aboard. Jones said the purpose of Latino IQ is to introduce a workforce into rural Iowa from South America. Jones suggested that Agulleio take the lead in this new venture, starting with educating the public.

“A high level of education starts with us understanding the culture of the Latino population and at the same time as they move here, they have to understand the culture of rural Iowa population and what that means.”

GCDC Executive Director Ken Paxton described for the Jefferson City Council the need for employees in the county.

“I did a little survey of our nine largest employers, other than the school, and there’s 160 open jobs, at that point in time. Bauer (Built Manufacturing in Paton) has 40 more jobs coming up in January. So just our nine largest (employers) which includes the casino, the hospital, our manufacturers, that’s 200 jobs that are opening in just those businesses.”

Aside from getting people from the Latino population to move to Greene County, Jones also said there needs to be affordable housing. He stated that the proposal from Auglleio was $60,000 for a one year agreement, renewable up to three years. Jones added that GCDC was willing to use funds that it is allocated from Grow Greene County Gaming Corporation, while also asking for support from area manufacturers and other employers, as well as grant opportunities. He said they may come back to the City and will re-visit with the Supervisors later this month for possible additional funding.