Our Business Roundtable Series is sponsored by APS and Meadows Bank and presented in partnership with Mayor Brigette Peterson, Gilbert’s Office of Economic Development, and the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce.
Representatives of businesses within the Town’s Life Sciences and Health Care industries joined us for a roundtable discussion. Hearing directly from our businesses is essential to us and helps us understand the emerging trends and disruptors businesses face, plans for growth or expansion, workforce successes, and challenges, and how the Chamber and Town can assist businesses now and in the future.
The Life Sciences and Health Care industries continue to be two of the fastest growing industry segments. The industry has changed a lot since the onset of the pandemic, and while there has been continued growth, we know there have also been challenges, particularly around talent attraction.
The following are key takeaways from the discussion:
Addressing mental health in our community and in our workplaces is necessary and would make a tremendous difference.
Encouraging workforce development among our youth in health care and life sciences would make a difference to the industries. There is a shortage of primary care physicians. The pandemic scared people from going into health care as a profession by creating mistrust in the medical field.
Practices you have in place that are effective for you include quarterly decompression activities as a team. Some organizations have wellness programs that cover financial, physical, and mental well-being.
Gilbert has been welcoming to new businesses.
Complementary businesses that Gilbert or the region is missing include Senior day cares.
Here are some of the challenges you said keep you up at night:
- Corporations with large budgets are pushing out small, independent businesses.
- Substance abuse and mental health regulations, or lack thereof, are of concern.
- Access to health care is challenging for many.
- Finding affordable office space to accommodate growth is challenging.
- Challenges with the workforce make sustainability difficult.
We can use your help with expertise in classroom discussions, curriculum development, serving on a panel for students and teachers on various subjects, job shadowing, internships, etc. If you have a few hours you can commit to enriching the success of our future workforce, the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce would love to make these connections for you. Together, we can make a great difference in preparing our students for the future, even without a major time commitment. Please reach out to Elaine Kessler elaine@gilbertchamber.com for more information.