(pleasant music) (pleasant music continues) - Good evening, welcome to Almanac North.

I'm Brett Scott.

Tonight, we're taking a look at careers and business trends in the Northland and how they impact workers in our region.

That's coming up.

But first, the Minnesota Department of Health celebrated Rural Health Day on Thursday by honoring four exceptional healthcare professionals who have made a lasting impact on their rural communities.

According to the MDH, these individuals exemplify innovation and dedication in addressing the unique health challenges faced by Greater Minnesota.

Minnesota Commissioner of Health, Dr. Brooke Cunningham, praised this year's honorees, stating, quote, "Their selfless dedication and service and willingness to stand in the gap, stand in the (indistinct) is a powerful reminder of the important work taking place daily in our rural communities."

The 2024 Minnesota Rural Health Awards presented by the MDH, the Minnesota Rural Health Association, and the Duluth-based National Rural Health Resource Center include the following: Dr. John Schmitz, behavioral health director at CentraCare in St.

Cloud, he received the Rural Health Hero Provider Award for his contributions to behavioral health in central Minnesota; Maureen or Mo Spike, public health supervisor for Isanti County, was honored with the Rural Health Hero Practitioner Award for her advocacy and innovative leadership in improving healthcare access in Isanti County; the Sawtooth Mountain Clinic Oral Health Task Force in Grand Marais was awarded the Rural Health Team Award for their connecting medical and oral health services in Cook County and the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa; Penny Messer, division director for Isanti County Health and Human Services, was recognized with the Lifetime Achievement Award for mentoring the next generation of rural health leaders and fostering resilient teams.

These awards shine a spotlight on the remarkable efforts being made to ensure quality healthcare in rural Minnesota.

Meanwhile, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers recently completed his fifth annual tour of all 72 counties in the state, a tradition he began after taking office in 2019.

Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Governor Evers made it a priority to visit every corner of Wisconsin to connect with residents and learn about their concerns and achievements.

Reflecting on his tour, Governor Evers stated, quote, "The conversations I have with folks across our state make a better governor, help us solve problems, and ensure our administration is delivering for all Wisconsinites no matter what part of the state they live in."

This year, the governor's focus included key issues like workforce development, mental health, and education.

Highlights of his visit included promoting rural road and bridge improvements, such as the Surface Transportation Program and projects in Ashland, supporting mental health programs at schools like Washburn Elementary where he learned about their sources of strength initiative, exploring environmental efforts, including the Coastal Management Grant projects in Bayfield and clean energy initiatives in Superior, celebrating federal investments such as the $1 billion grant to replace the aging John A. Blatnik Bridge between Superior and Duluth.

Governor Evers also made stops at small businesses, schools, and community events, emphasizing his commitments to fair maps, sustainable energy, and fostering local economic growth.

His visits this year included collaboration with federal partners on transformative projects, and also from data center investments, to clean energy programs.

Well, as the year winds down, the governor looks ahead to continuing his engagement with Wisconsinites in 2025.

Our first guest is Elena Foshay, the director of Duluth Workforce Development.

Elena, thank you for joining us this evening.

- Thank you so much for having me here.

- We're happy to have you.

So let's dive right into it.

What does a career look like today compared to maybe 40 years ago?

It's a long time.

- It is a long time.

I think, it looks a lot different than it used to.

In the past, someone would start a career with a single employer, probably stay with that employer for 30, 35 years, retire and enjoy.

And that's just not the way it works anymore.

Now folks tend to jump jobs every 5 years, 10 years, look for opportunities for advancement, look for employers that align with their interests, maybe even entirely change career paths one or two times across their career.

And then some folks continue working well into retirement age.

- Sure, and why do you think that need for change has kind of evolved?

- I think it's a mix.

The ways that employers invest in their employees have changed.

I was just talking today about the transition from pensions.

It used to be that you would work for a single employer, be provided a pension, and retire on that.

And now it's just not the case.

Your retirement is your own investment.

Sometimes your employer contributes to it, sometimes it doesn't.

And so that makes you more portable as an employee.

I think also just folks are looking for change.

They're looking for opportunities for growth.

They're looking for different work environments.

- Kinda switch things up once in a while.

- Switch things up, yeah.

- What are some of the biggest challenges for employers in Duluth when it comes to acquisition and also retention of employees?

- Yeah, I mean, I think our biggest challenge, which has been true for a long time, is we have an aging workforce in the region.

While jobs are growing, which is great, we have a very strong economy, we have amazing employers who are continuing to invest in the region, we have fewer workers in the labor force as folks age out and retire out and not enough of an inflow of the next generation of workers.

- Sure.

And what are the most prominent industries that we're seeing right now in the Twin Ports?

- Yeah, well, healthcare is, of course, the largest.

About a third of our jobs are in the healthcare industry.

Beyond that, (chuckles) there's a sector which is hard to describe, which is called professional, technical, and business services.

Those of us in workforce development that track labor market data see that and understand what that sector is, but I think the general public doesn't.

So that there's a lot of jobs that are contained in that sector.

But if you think about Duluth as a hub of the economy in the region, you know, we've got lots of lawyer's offices, we've got lots of accounting firms, HR firms, sort of business services firms here, or headquarters, administrative headquarters of mining companies that are located on the range.

They're all located here in Duluth.

Banks that are loaning to businesses are all located here.

So all of those individuals are in that professional and business services sector, which is a large chunk of our economy.

And then, of course, manufacturing.

We're a strong goods producing region.

So manufacturing is strong, construction is strong.

- Sure.

I feel like during the COVID-19 pandemic, you went by any window and there was a now hiring sign.

How have things improved since the pandemic's maybe slowed down a little bit?

- Yeah, I think, once the initial bundle of layoffs subsided after the pandemic and employers reopened and folks went back to work, there was a real labor shortage.

There were still a lot of people who had left the labor force because of childcare, because they retired early, because of a lot of different pandemic-related reasons who hadn't come back yet and employers were struggling to hire.

That softened a little bit.

I'm hearing from employers that they're getting more applicants for jobs from job seekers.

It's a little bit more of a competitive market.

You still seeing now hiring signs, but it's a little bit less.

I think the other thing that's changed, during the pandemic and immediately post-pandemic, we saw, we called it the great resignation.

A lot of career changers, a lot of people looking for something different, looking for a different work-life balance, that has slowed way down.

People found what they were looking for, they're staying put.

But at the same time, entry-level jobs that offer entry-level wages, they're continuing to struggle.

And that, I think, really is a result of cost of living increases, that it's just harder to get by on an entry-level wage now.

And so there's some workers that, they're trying to get by on two jobs and struggling, or they're looking at a wage offer and saying, "That's just not gonna pay my rent."

And so they're not looking.

- How negotiable are employers within this workforce, would you say?

- I think that employers raised wages a lot post-pandemic to try to attract workers.

So they're sort of maxed out at what they're able to do and maintain their business model.

Wages have increased in the region.

4.8% just over the last year and more than 10% in the previous year.

I mean, it really, employers can't raise their wages anymore reasonably.

And so what they're doing is looking at benefits, work schedules, opportunities for advancement, investment in training, and trying to attract workers using kinda other strategies besides just wages.

- Sure, and also workforce environment, too.

Just creating a good place to be.

- [Elena] Exactly, exactly.

- What are some of the benefits of living and working in Duluth compared to other areas of the state?

- Yeah, well, I was in a meeting last week and somebody said something that really struck me.

They said, you know, when you think about Minnesota, sort of the, you envision what is the brand of Minnesota, it's really Northeast Minnesota.

It's the lifestyle that we have here.

It's the outdoors, it's the environment with the trees and the lakes, like all of that is Northeast Minnesota.

So what we have to offer here is amazing.

It's a great quality of life.

It's a good work-life balance.

There are a lot of opportunities for growth and advancement and for investing in yourself.

And to raise a family and to make friends and build a great community.

So we have a lot to offer here.

- Right, we have our own call map, so to speak right on our back door.

- Yeah.

Yeah, exactly.

- Perfect.

Elena Foshay, thank you so much for being with us.

We appreciate it.

- Yeah.

Thank you so much, I appreciate the conversation.

(gentle music) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) - Well, next here this evening, we are joined by Molly Stonesifer, a career development specialist at UMD who works with students to help get them prepared to begin a successful career.

Molly, it's good to have you with us today.

- Thank you so much, Brett.

- Yes, we are happy to have you.

What industries are currently offering the best opportunities for young adults entering the workforce?

- Sure, the best industries for young adults entering the workforce.

Well, (sighs) that's a challenging question for me because as a career development specialist at UMD, I'm a generalist, and I work with students from all majors and all colleges.

And so the best place for them can be different depending on their passions and their interests.

Ultimately, that's my goal, is to help guide them in a path that's best for them, that's meeting their skills and their interests and their values.

So that can look really different.

That all said, our most popular majors at UMD are psychology, biology, finance, engineering, those types, marketing.

Those are kind of our biggest majors.

Obviously, some of those are more broad than others, but a little- - Sure.

- Yes.

- What are some of the biggest trends that you're seeing from students across the campus?

- Yeah.

- As far as workforce goes.

- Sure, absolutely.

I have noticed that students are increasingly interested in establishing their career development path early on in their college career.

That has been a big question and concern for a lot of students, is making sure that going to college is a valuable investment of their time and money.

And so making sure that they're going to see those career outcomes when they leave.

And so with that in mind, they are pursuing career development opportunities earlier and having that career goal in mind, or just trying to establish those, what I call the building blocks towards your career development to reach the places you want to go.

- Sure, definitely.

How important is formal education in today's career force?

- Yes, that is, it is just such like an exciting landscape right now where, yes, there are so many opportunities to learn on the job, there's opportunities for certificates or microcredentials that we're hearing more and more about.

At the end of the day, it's about skill building, and there's still a lot of skills that are gained through formal education.

That said, it's not the only way, but ultimately, that's what it's about, is gaining those marketable skills that you can communicate to employers at the end of the day.

- What are some of those big skills?

- Yes.

- [Brett] Communication, I'm sure.

- Absolutely, communication.

We talk about these, the skills that no matter what industry you're going into that are valuable, those transferable skills, so to speak.

So communication, leadership, technology, diversity and inclusion.

There's more.

- Are we seeing a lack of those right now?

- Teamwork.

Teamwork.

- Are you seeing a lack of those with students?

- No, I wouldn't say I am seeing a lack of those.

I think that we really strive to integrate those concepts into a student's education so that when they do graduate and are entering the workforce, that they're able to show that they have those skills.

So part of my job as a career development specialist is helping coach students how to communicate that they have those skills and that they've gained those skills, or recognizing their education as experience.

Sometimes when they are entering the workforce feeling like they don't have experience yet.

And so that's a big piece of the conversation, is that your education is a big piece of your experience up until this point.

So learning how to communicate that so that you can leverage those skills that you've gained throughout your education into those marketable skills to your career.

- Sure, and a lot of those skills deal with face-to-face communication, but many jobs require remote work these days.

How does that make it a little difficult?

- Yes, absolutely.

Gen Z, statistically, research shows that the Gen Z really still values that communication, that contact, the one-to-one relationship building.

At the same time, technology is a huge piece of that.

They're digital natives.

And I'd say that both pieces are very important.

And being able to communicate face to face, being able to communicate via the written word, they're both top skills to have, yes.

- Sure.

What advice do you have for youngsters that are starting out and looking maybe even to go to college?

- Yes.

My biggest piece of advice is just to take that next step forward.

Sometimes students can be very scared of picking the wrong path or doing something when they don't know what that end goal is quite yet.

I tell them like, "That's okay.

You don't necessarily have to know what that very end goal is.

It's just about taking that next step forward in your career development process."

I say that career isn't, it isn't linear, it's not point A to point B.

Instead, it's circular.

You're gonna continue to grow and build on your skills throughout your career, and that circle's gonna continue to get bigger and bigger.

- So look at the big picture.

(Molly laughs) Right?

- Yes.

- Perfect.

How did you choose to become what you are today, what you're doing for work?

- Yes.

I truly love what I'm doing.

I have a background in counseling, in school counseling.

I started my career though in higher ed.

I worked in housing at University of Wisconsin-Superior, and I also worked in the admissions office both for there and for University of Wisconsin Colleges.

And so I loved working in higher ed.

So when this position opened up, it was a good combination of my past experiences in higher ed and counseling and some HR experience.

And I think that's a good example for students of thinking about what are your values and integrating that into your career and how my job now, why I love it is because it does fit my values.

And that Gen Z is very value-centric.

That's a question that they're asking themselves on their own, is how can their career match their values, and which is awesome.

Research shows that the number one reason that someone has career dissatisfaction is that mismatch in values.

So it's great to keep that in mind.

- You're on that circle path that you mentioned.

- Exactly, building that circle bigger and bigger.

- Molly, thank you so much for being with us this evening.

- Thank you, Brett.

(gentle music) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) - Our final guest today is Cole Dimeglio, a graduate of UMD, an entrepreneur who runs his own painting business along the North Shore.

Cole, how are you doing today?

- Good, happy to be here.

Thank you.

- Good.

Yes, painting business, you got a colorful shirt.

- I do.

- It all matches.

- Yes.

(laughs) - So you're a graduate of UMD.

What did you study in school to become where you are today?

- Yeah, my degree was in marketing and graphic design.

- Perfect.

- Yeah.

- So you kind of always had a knack for looking at the bright colors and designing.

- Yes, exactly.

And I always kind of wanted to be an entrepreneur deep down.

It feels good to now be a business owner.

- Tell us a little bit about your current business.

- Yeah, well, I graduated spring of 2020.

Basically in the heart of the pandemic.

And my biggest thing was I didn't wanna move out of Duluth.

And it seems that Duluth was maybe lacking some opportunity for finding entry-level positions in my degree.

So I kinda just started doing handyman work on the side, which eventually led to drywall, which eventually led to painting.

Never really intended on this turning into an official business, but one thing kinda led to another and I kept staying busy.

So, here I am, yeah.

- Good for you.

People wanted to renovate their homes during the pandemic, so you kinda capitalized on that.

- Yes.

- Would you say your studies helped prepare you for your current line of work?

- I would, yeah.

I think I use a lot of the skills that I learned in school in my business.

The graphic design work is a good example of that.

I did design my own logo and kind of my own branding.

And just to get that general knowledge of what running a business is really like, I think subconsciously has kinda helped in steering my business in the right direction.

- I have to say, congratulations.

It seems like everyone wants to run their own business.

And you actually did it.

- Yeah, thank you.

- So what influenced you to make that decision?

- Well, like I was just saying, I kinda had always wanted to be a business owner.

My grandma was a business owner.

I have other family members who were business owners.

So just being your own boss was always an appealing thing to me.

And now that I'm actually doing it, I have a new appreciation for it for sure.

- It could be hard to be your own boss.

- Yes, it can be.

- When that alarm clock goes- - Exactly, yeah.

I think initially when I was starting it, it was a lot of work on the front end, but as it kinda started to turn into a larger-scale business, not that I'm a large-scale business or anything, but, yeah, it just, I guess, I don't know where I was, it was going with that but- (laughs) - Were there any mistakes that you made when you first started out that you could maybe relay to others who are going through the same thing?

- Yeah, I think focusing on what you really wanna do with a business is a big thing because I had done a lot of drywall work before doing painting, and I realized early on that maybe I didn't like doing the drywall side of it as much.

And so I decided to just only focus on painting.

And I think since then it has made running my business more enjoyable.

- So do you tape everything off or do you just do it by hand?

- Yeah, at this point, I'm doing all the cuts by hand and stuff.

- Wow, all right.

- Yeah.

(chuckles) - Professional- - Saves time, yup.

- Are there any organizations that helped prepare you to kind of start this business in the community?

- Yeah, I would have to give credit to some of the construction companies that I worked for before I started this business.

Yeah, one of 'em I worked for in this area.

And that was one of the things that I did to pay for school, was work for construction companies during the summer and then basically use that stockpile of cash that I made with them to go towards my tuition.

And I think as I was working with them, I slowly started to realize what it took to run a business, like what kind of equipment to get, how you're gonna get customers, how you're gonna price things to make sure that you're not losing money on jobs or anything to make sure that everything is still profitable.

I would give credit to those companies that I worked for and kinda got the skillset that I have now.

- Sure.

So what's next for your business?

How do you hope to grow it?

In the next five years, we'll say.

- Good question.

In terms of growing, I'm not really sure.

I am a smaller operation, I do mostly work on my own.

Sometimes if I do have a helper, it's only one, maybe two other people.

And I think making it any larger than that would maybe be a little bit overwhelming, but I am pretty content with where I'm at here.

I guess just continuing to do good work and get a good loyal customer base.

And, really, word of mouth is a really big thing for staying busy and being reputable.

- Well, now you're on TV.

- Yes, exactly.

- So you're getting your word out there.

- Yeah.

- Cole, thank you so much for being with us.

We appreciate it.

- Absolutely.

Yes, thank you.

(gentle music) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) - And we'll look at what you might be up to this weekend.

We start our weekend off up the North Shore for the Winter's Gathering & Arctic Film Festival.

The event welcomes in the start of the chilliest season by celebrating crafts, customs, history, and stories that have been inspired by winter.

The event is free to attend and features a winter gear sale, a film festival, guest speakers, as well as a special knife-making course as well.

Activities run from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM located at the North House Folk School in Grand Marais.

Meanwhile, Duluth Parks and Rec is starting their open skate sessions at the Essentia Duluth Heritage Center from 3 to 5:00 PM on Sundays.

No pucks or sticks are allowed on the ice, so the sessions are a safe and secure way to try out skating on an indoor rink with some music.

Open skates will cost you about three bucks at door, or you can also register online.

There are additional time slots during the week.

More information is available at duluthparks.gov.

And finally, Hartley Nature Center is hosting the final Kid's Yoga at the Yurt, a yoga class for children ages three to eight designed around play, yoga poses, breathing, stories and morals, games, body awareness, and relaxation.

This class integrates yoga and storytelling in a fun and playful way.

The class begins at 11:00 AM.

Well, that's it for this week's show.

Make sure you go out and enjoy your weekend.

Almanac North will be off next week due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

The team here at Almanac North hopes you'll be spending time with your family, friends, and loved ones.

For everyone here, I'm Brett Scott, thank you for joining us, and goodnight.

(pleasant music) (pleasant music)