Barriers and Drivers to Accessing and Using Workforce and Technical Assistance Resources for Small and Medium Manufacturers (SMMs) in Rural Regions

Abstract

Workforce shortages and market shifts have left many small and medium manufacturers (SMMs) struggling to maintain their operations. Still some SMMs tend not to utilize the workforce development and technical assistance resources available to them. This is particularly true of those in more rural regions where manufacturing is even more essential to the sustained vitality of these economies. This study explores the factors preventing these firms from pursuing and accessing these services. The authors used surveys and interviews to engage manufacturers with fewer than 500 employees in rural Southwestern Virginia and identify factors limiting their participation in these services. Findings indicate constant and consistent outreach to SMMs, regular engagement in social and economic networks, and a diverse array of services tailored to rural SMMs’ needs to play key roles in developing productive partnerships between SMMs and resource providers.

Applied Regional Economic Research Can Improve Development Strategies and Drive Better Outcomes

“…Taxation tools are critical to strategic action, creating a locus for coordination between business and government and setting the stage for negotiations regarding investments that businesses and residents are seeking. However, they are slow to adapt and often highly resistant to change because lawmakers remain committed to past logic frameworks or are ill-informed about how these incentives have done in affecting desired private sector investment behaviors (Lyon-Hill et al, 2019).…”