In this interview, Mark talks about the need for economic development professionals to shift focus from base job creation to helping employers find skilled labor to back-fill vacancies created by baby boomer retirement.  Mark shares perspective from his book titled – When the Boomers Bail: A community Economic Survival Guide.  The discussion also turns to how the economic development profession can address its declining public image and the importance of broad-based, data driven strategic planning for communities.

After reading this book I felt compelled to reach out to Mark and ask him to participate in an interview with Regional Business Talk to share his thought provoking work.

Our Roving Host Ed Burghard was a great choice to interview Mark to help our listeners learn more about the  the impending economic disaster covered in Mark’s book: a baby boom generation who didn’t have enough kids to replace themselves, and an education system that has failed to properly prepare students for the new demands of today’s market. Add to that 78 million soon-to-be-retired Baby Boomers, who will go from high-earning producers to resource-sapping dependents, and the situation worsens.

Communities that are unable to attract and hold talent will join a growing number of economically doomed places where economic development is impossible. This suddenly makes deciding where to live or invest a much higher-stakes game. In When the Boomers Bail, Mark Lautman details the causes of the problem, explains how it changes the game, and what you can do about it.  – When the Boomers Bail: A Community Economic Survival Guide