As the world slowly emerges from COVID 19 both the virus and the lingering effects on the economy will be in the spotlight. There is a real urgency to get businesses up and running and employees working again. Some businesses may be able to  flip a switch  and up to speed while other may need to ramp up more slowly and will only be able to  turn up the dial.  In both situations, there are implications for the local workforce and for the community

Bayton, Kristina

Burkhart-Kriesel, Cheryl

Guenther, Samantha

Sharpe, Blayne

English

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University of Nebraska - Lincoln 
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln 
Cornhusker Economics Agricultural Economics Department 
5-20-2020 
Workforce Development in a Post-COVID World: a Grassroots 
Approach 
Cheryl Burkhart-Kriesel 
University of Nebraska-Lincoln 
Kristina Bayton 
University of Nebraska-Lincoln 
Samantha Guenther 
University of Nebraska-Lincoln 
Blayne Sharpe 
University of Nebraska-Lincoln 
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/agecon_cornhusker 
 Part of the Agricultural Economics Commons, and the Economics Commons 
Burkhart-Kriesel, Cheryl; Bayton, Kristina; Guenther, Samantha; and Sharpe, Blayne, "Workforce 
Development in a Post-COVID World: a Grassroots Approach" (2020). Cornhusker Economics. 1055. 
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/agecon_cornhusker/1055 
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May 20, 2020 
Workforce Development in a Post-COVID World:  
A Grassroots Approach  
As the world slowly emerges from COVID 19 
both the virus and the lingering effects on the 
economy will be in the spotlight.  There is a real 
urgency to get businesses up and running and 
employees working again. Some businesses may 
be able to “flip a switch” and get up to speed 
while others may need to ramp up more slowly 
and will only be able to “turn up the dial.”  In 
both situations, there are implications for the lo-
cal workforce and for the community. 
In the recent past, intermediaries or various ser-
vice providers were often available to provide 
workforce assistance. These groups come in a va-
riety of forms. Some prepare job seekers for labor 
market entry and advancement through targeted 
training (Ganzglass, Foster, & Newcomer, 2014; 
Lowe, Goldstein, & Donegan, 2011). Others es-
tablish close working relationships with employ-
ers, educational institutions, and workers in an 
effort to influence local hiring decisions 
(Fitzgerald, 2004; Osterman, 2007).  These groups 
may still be available in the post-COVID envi-
ronment, but their capacity may be diminished.  
The size and scope of this new reality is just too 
big to presume that institutional support will 
function as it did in the past. Rather than waiting 
for their assistance, a crucial question is, what 
actions can a community take that will support 
the local workforce now and also lay the ground-
work for an improved economic future? 
This is where a community self-help approach 
may offer value to get the process started  as well 
Market Report  Year 
Ago 
4 Wks 
Ago  5-15-20 
Livestock and Products, 
Weekly Average          
Nebraska Slaughter Steers, 
35-65% Choice, Live Weight. . . . . .  .  *  *  * 
Nebraska Feeder Steers, 
Med. & Large Frame, 550-600 lb. . . . .  178.09  159.46  167.52 
Nebraska Feeder Steers, 
Med. & Large Frame 750-800 lb. . .. .  *  113.82  134.92 
Choice Boxed Beef, 
600-750 lb. Carcass. . . . . . . . . . . . . .  220.23  NA  459.04 
Western Corn Belt Base Hog Price 
Carcass, Negotiated . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..  81.30  NA  * 
Pork Carcass Cutout, 185 lb. Carcass 
51-52% Lean. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  85.26  NA  111.36 
Slaughter Lambs, wooled and shorn, 
135-165 lb. National. . . . . . .  157.75  162.25  162.25 
National Carcass Lamb Cutout 
FOB. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  384.92  429.98  408.91 
Crops, 
Daily Spot Prices          
Wheat, No. 1, H.W. 
Imperial, bu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4.03  4.52  3.96 
Corn, No. 2, Yellow 
Columbus, bu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  .  3.71  2.84  2.85 
Soybeans, No. 1, Yellow 
Columbus, bu. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .  7.32  7.64  7.84 
Grain Sorghum, No.2, Yellow 
Dorchester, cwt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5.83  5.61  6.18 
Oats, No. 2, Heavy 
Minneapolis, Mn, bu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3.29  3.25  3.54 
Feed          
Alfalfa, Large Square Bales, 
Good to Premium, RFV 160-185 
Northeast Nebraska, ton. . . . . . . . . . .  *  *  * 
Alfalfa, Large Rounds, Good 
Platte Valley, ton. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  112.50  90.00  90.00 
Grass Hay, Large Rounds, Good 
 Nebraska, ton. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . .  90.00  85.00  80.00 
Dried Distillers Grains, 10% Moisture 
Nebraska Average. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  121.00  211.67  154.00 
Wet Distillers Grains, 65-70% Moisture 
Nebraska Average. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  47.25  57.29  47.86 
 ⃰  No Market          
as fine tune the community trajectory.  Communities 
have the power to go beyond “what was” and design a 
future that “could be.”  This may be an opportune 
time to rethink local realities and create a new path 
with more options for skill development and ulti-
mately business growth and diversity.  
The Process: Three Basic Steps  
From a community perspective, the idea may seem 
daunting.  Where does one start?  But a closer look at 
workforce development reveals three foundational 
components.  The steps are distinct, locally driven and 
also purposefully interconnected.  They include: 1) 
bring together key community partners to inventory 
current assets and opportunities and develop a local 
workforce plan that incorporates realistic strategic 
actions; 2) integral to the plan, create and incorporate 
methods to expand career exploration and develop-
ment that resonate with both the current local adult 
and future youth workforce participants; and 3) once 
these are outlined, leverage both public and private 
financial support to help activate the plan.   
The purpose of the process would be to offer smaller 
and possibly overlooked communities, specifically 
minority and rural communities, some ideas to re-
energize their business economy and corresponding 
workforce in a way that opens up future opportunities 
in a post-COVID 19 world.  The grassroots or bottom 
up foundational three-step approach can be drafted 
immediately — it should be a pathway designed by 
the community for the community.  Having a plan of 
action that emerges from local aspirations and assets 
creates a roadmap for a desired future, given new op-
portunities and possible constraints post COVID.  As 
resources become more available, the community will 
be ready to take advantage of them to strengthen their 
plan and move forward with their actions at a more 
accelerated rate. 
Connected to Research, Practical Application and 
Personal Passion 
These ideas are the culmination of a final project de-
veloped by three graduate students enrolled in a 
workforce development online course linked to a 
community development certificate program at the 
University of Nebraska.  The timing of the course, late 
spring 2020, overlapped with the COVID-19 pandem-
ic.  Merging the course content with the realities of 
the  current  economy  generated  discussions  with a  
sense of urgency and purpose.  The three compo-
nents lifted up by the students as areas of interest 
were woven together to offer a basic grassroots 
community approach to workforce development.  
Although primarily designed for small rural or mi-
nority urban locations, the components and pro-
cess are the workforce building blocks for a wide 
variety of situations.  
The first component, bring community partners 
together, offers a way to identify local assets and 
opportunities in a changing environment.  Com-
munities will need to engage in hard conversations 
on the types of actions that should be undertaken 
in both the short and long term.  Having the right 
partners around the table with a focus on both the 
immediate and the future will take keen group 
leadership skills as noted by the student author.  
Second, and fundamental to any workforce devel-
opment plan, is a renewed look at career explora-
tion and development.  The student author of this 
segment chose to look at a specific workforce sec-
tor, sports, as a way to think about hidden and di-
verse employment opportunities that youth may 
not realize are available. Although the example 
highlights the sports sector, many employment are-
as fall victim to this same dilemma.  We only think 
about employment opportunities in the professions 
that we see.  We cannot comprehend the support 
or back-office jobs that enable them.  In addition, 
the author lifts up some of the barriers and obsta-
cles that are present as they pursue sports as a 
pathway to career development. Third, and critical-
ly important, are ways to leverage both public and 
private community financial support to put a plan 
into action.  Here the student author connected 
with a  workforce success story in rural Arkansas 
and investigated how the funding streams came 
together and included both the reasoning behind 
the support and the process and players that were 
needed to make it happen. A more detailed discus-
sion of each of these components can be found in 
the final project.  https://agecon.unl.edu/workforce
-development-post-covid-world-grassroots-
approach-2020 
 
Moving Forward 
Communities have never been here before - no one 
knows exactly what economic recovery will look  
like in the months ahead.  But we do have past work-
force  history,  resources, observations and insights to 
draw upon as we position ourselves for the future.  
For this particular workforce project, the Federal Re-
serve Bank of Atlanta’s, Investing in America’s Work-
force three book publication series (2018) provided 
key data and varying professional insights.  In addi-
tion, the students framed each component based on 
their past individual and community experiences. 
Blending outside resources with personal insights 
may be the norm as we consciously or unconsciously 
try to make the best possible decisions in this shifting 
economic landscape. 
The intent of this project was to create a basic grass-
roots workforce process, especially for niche locations 
like smaller rural communities or urban neighbor-
hoods, in a post-COVID environment.  It is hoped 
that this process and unique economic timing sparks 
community workforce discussions that go beyond the 
present realities of “what was” to a future of increased 
business growth and diversity of ”what could be.”  
 
 
* K. Bayton, S. Guenther and B. Sharpe were graduate 
students enrolled in the University of Nebraska – Lin-
coln CDEV 827 online community workforce devel-
opment course during the spring 2020 semester.  Dr. 
C. Burkhart-Kriesel, Extension Specialist in Commu-
nity Vitality and Professor in Agricultural Economics, 
was both the instructor and collaborator on the final 
project. 
References 
Fitzgerald, J. (2004). Moving the workforce interme-
diary agenda forward. Economic Development 
Quarterly, 18, 3–9. 
Ganzglass, E., Foster, M., & Newcomer, A. (2014). 
Innovation in community colleges. In M. Conway 
& R. Giloth (Eds.), Connecting people to work: 
Workforce intermediaries and sector strategies (pp. 
301–324). New York, NY: Aspen Institute. 
Lowe, N., Goldstein, H., & Donegan, M. (2011). 
Patchwork intermediation: Regional challenges 
and opportunities for sector-based workforce de-
velopment. Economic Development Quarterly, 25
(2), 158–171. 
Osterman, P. (2007). Employment and training poli-
cies: New directions for less skilled adults. In H. J. 
Holzer & D. Nightingale Smithy (Eds.), Reshaping 
the American workforce in a changing economy 
(pp. 119–154). Washington, DC: Urban Institute. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Cheryl Burkhart-Kriesel 
Extension Specialist, Community Vitality  
University of Nebraska - Lincoln 
Panhandle Research and Extension Center 
(308) 632-1234 
cburkhartkriesel1@unl.edu 


Workforce Development in a Post-COVID World: a Grassroots Approach

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Workforce Development in a Post-COVID World: a Grassroots Approach

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