By Amelia Kraskouskas

The University of Nevada, Reno Center for Economic Development (UCED) received a $20,000 research grant from the Governor’s Office of Workforce Innovation (GOWINN). UCED was one of eight recipients of the inaugural Nevada P-20 to Workforce Data System (NPWR) Research Grant. As an initiative of the College of Business, UCED provides organizations and areas across the state access to the extensive resources of the University, supporting job creation, retention efforts and statewide economic development.

The inaugural NPWR Research Grant supports research that uses NPWR as the data tool to study Nevada’s policy problems in the areas of workforce development, economic diversification and education. NPWR is a state-of-the-art research tool that provides access to the knowledge needed to understand trends shaping the state of Nevada.

“This grant and the associated research are designed to identify what the workforce needs of individual firms in specific industries are and the ‘gap’ is between these needs and current housing, education/childcare and healthcare characteristics,” Fred Steinmann, director of UCED, said.

The center’s research will explore the relationship between existing local and regional housing, education and childcare, and healthcare availability and service levels. It will also examine the ability of local communities, regions and private sector firms to recruit new workers to move to these communities and regions.

“After working with numerous communities and regional economic development authorities from across Nevada, UCED has observed that the availability of workers (or lack thereof) has become a major (if not the most important and impactful) barrier to broader economic development efforts across the state,” Steinmann said.

This effort began on March 1, 2023, and ends on June 30, 2023. UCED faculty and staff, including two undergraduate student researchers and one doctorate student researcher, will publish the results of the study in a UCED technical report in July 2023 and present their findings at a GOWINN-sponsored research seminar in December 2023. This is the first granted award from GOWINN to UCED in UCED’s 30-year history.

[Amelia Kraskouskas is a student content writer at the University of Nevada, Reno.]

Source: University of Nevada, Reno