Federal Reserve Official Talks Economics During Valley Visit

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Federal Reserve Official Talks Economics During Valley Visit

Economics professor Marie T. Mora moderates a discussion with Robert Kaplan, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. (VBR)
Economics professor Marie T. Mora moderates a discussion with Robert Kaplan, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. (VBR)

Higher education called upon to close skills gaps

Somewhere between 50,000 and 75,000 Texas jobs were lost in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, but the state’s economy is already showing signs of recovery, President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Robert Kaplan said during remarks at the seventh annual Border Economic Development and Entrepreneurship Symposium in McAllen on Dec. 1.

“We are already seeing a rebound and a reclaiming of those jobs,” Kaplan said. He added that he expects a rapid pace of recovery in the early part of 2018, when he predicted that job growth will return to pre-storm levels. “We are optimistic about the future of the state.”

During remarks moderated by Marie T. Mora, associate provost for faculty diversity and professor of economics with the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Kaplan said an aging U.S. population presents one of the greatest challenges to future economic growth. An aging population that is not being adequately replenished means fewer workers to drive growth.

Approximately 200 business and community leaders attended the Border Economic Development and Entrepreneurship Symposium in McAllen.
Approximately 200 business and community leaders attended the Border Economic Development and Entrepreneurship Symposium in McAllen.

“The native born workforce is going to continue to decline,” Kaplan told the audience of about 200 business and community leaders. “Immigrants and their children will make up more of the workforce. We need to get people in the workforce and get them productive.”

He said employment in “middle skills jobs” demands more education than in the past. This is due to rapid advances in technology in the fields of technology, manufacturing and others. To keep pace with the demand, he called on community colleges and vocational schools to do a better job helping close a skills gap.

“Half of small businesses have more jobs than they can find workers,” Kaplan said. “We’re behind and we have got to catch up.”

During Kaplan’s swing through the Rio Grande Valley, he planned to meet with trade sector leaders and banking professionals for round-table discussions on the South Texas economy and trade with Mexico.

George Cox is a veteran journalist with more than 30 years experience as a newspaper writer and editor. A Corpus Christi native, he started his career as a reporter for The Brownsville Herald after graduating from Sam Houston State University with a degree in journalism. He later worked on newspapers in Laredo and Corpus Christi as well as northern California. George returned to the Valley in 1996 as editor of The Brownsville Herald and in 2001 moved to Harlingen as editor of the Valley Morning Star. He also held the position of editor and general manager for the Coastal Current, a weekly entertainment magazine with Valleywide distribution. George retired from full-time journalism in 2015 to work as a freelance writer and legal document editor. He continues to live in Harlingen where he and his wife Katherine co-founded Rio Grande Valley Therapy Pets, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising public awareness of the benefits of therapy pets and assisting people and their pets to become registered therapy pet teams.

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