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Crook County Promotes Working Close to Home

PRINEVILLE, OR -- With employers struggling to fill jobs, communities are finding new ways to attract workers. Crook County officials say workers leaving the county to work in Redmond or Bend for work is straining the county's economy. Crook County Judge Seth Crawford says new highway billboards promoting the benefits of working closer to home is an example of the county’s long standing history of collaboration, "We were brainstorming at our EDCO meeting about employees and we brought up the idea that people working outside our community are going in one certain direction, so you know, it gives us a certain opportunity to have a candid audience.” In this case, the collaborative entities are the Prineville Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development of Central Oregon. Crawford says employers are doing everything possible to attract and retain workers, including offering increased wages and other benefits to offset the imbalance.

But, Employment Department Regional Economist Damon Runberg says the highway goes both ways, "Because of the growth of the data centers, there is a huge, huge workforce who are Bend residents, who are driving to Prineville every day. So, Bend could make the same argument back to Prineville - ‘stop driving to Prineville for work and stay here!’" And, he tells KBND News, and not all commuters are created equal, "I would imagine that Crook County is sending some lower wage workers to Bend or Redmond for jobs. And, ironically, Bend is likely sending high wage workers from Bend to Prineville to work at the data centers. So, they’re not necessarily a one-for-one comparison."

While the billboards may cause some people to rethink where they work and how far they drive to get there, Runberg says for others, living in Central Oregon means having a certain freedom of lifestyle, "A lot of folks are making those choices because they want to have their Powell Butte ranchette and their horse property, and they want to do their job in Bend. That’s completely their economic and lifestyle decision that they’re making."

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