 |
 |
||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|||||||
|
PRESS RELEASE CONTACT: Elizabeth England: (617) 495-7640 June
30, 2005
Workforce
Housing–Good Business for Everyone: CAMBRIDGE, MA – As many business leaders have come to realize, the rising cost of housing is increasingly a bottom-line concern. Like transportation and education, the availability of affordable workforce housing affects directly the ability to attract and retain an adequate, stable and skilled labor pool at competitive wages. Although they approach the workforce housing issues from different—and often divergent—perspectives, businesses and housing advocates have many goals in common. To explore these shared opportunities and to collaborate more closely, the Joint Center for Housing Studies and the Center for Workforce Preparation of the Unites States Chamber of Commerce convened a national leadership forum on workforce housing to discuss the role of affordable housing in promoting community vitality. According to Nicolas P. Retsinas Director of the Joint Center, “affordable housing is necessary to sustain economic competitiveness.” Sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation, with additional support from the National Housing Endowment, the forum participants were unanimous in their belief that business and housing professionals must join forces in addressing the growing challenges. The forum clarified the links among high housing costs, workforce development, business opportunity, and the competitive landscape. In the end, the two groups’—business and housing advocates—shared concern for community was perhaps the most notable outcome of the discussion. “When I moved my business into Brooklyn 20 years ago, 20 percent of my workers were from the neighborhood. Now less than 2 percent are, and it’s because of the cost of housing. We have had to shorten our working hours due to commuting times. The situation hurts us,” noted participant Norman Brodsky, President of Citistorage, Inc., in Brooklyn N.Y. The forum underscored the notion that business groups, like local chambers of commerce, can play a leadership role in addressing workforce housing needs. “Chambers of commerce, with their abilities to mobilize small- and medium-sized businesses and convene diverse groups, are beginning to be a powerful force in this arena at the local level,” said Todd Cohen of the Center for Workforce Preparation. “The business community recognizes the positive economic impact of workers living close to their places of employment and local chambers are prepared to support and help implement affordable workforce housing initiatives.” To assist business and housing advocates, the Joint Center for Housing Studies and the Center for Workforce Preparation produced a report, Strengthening Our Workforce and Our Communities Through Housing Solutions, highlighting remarks, papers and conversations, from the forum. The report includes action items and next steps presented at the forum. They describe how chambers—and the Center for Workforce Preparation—can usefully become involved in the effort to address the workforce housing challenge. Forum participants detailed efforts that the housing community could undertake to facilitate the involvement and effectiveness of businesses and their representative by: securing the needed tools; supporting local efforts; and engaging in advocacy. Strengthening Our Workforce and Our Communities Through Housing Solutions is now available online on the Joint Center for Housing Studies website at www.jchs.harvard.edu, and at the Center for Workforce Preparation website at www.uschamber.com/cwp. Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies is the nation’s leading center for information and research on housing in the United States. Established in 1959, the Joint Center is a collaborative unit affiliated with the Harvard Design School and the Kennedy School of Government. The Director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies is Nicolas P. Retsinas, who was appointed in 1998. The Center’s research and additional information about its programs and activities are available at www.jchs.harvard.edu. The Center for Workforce Preparation (CWP) is a nonprofit affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce focused on workforce development and quality education issues. Its mission is to assist chambers of commerce in the development of workforce strategies so their members can hire, train, retain, and advance workers with skills to compete in the 21st Century. CWP helps to build leadership in local chambers for workforce development and helps chambers recognize the value and importance of this leadership role. Additional information about it’s programs and activities are available at www.uschamber.com/cwp. -END- For
more information about the Joint Center and its programs, |