Hay Bay City reports Q4 workforce gains, warns of long-term population decline

Sarah Parker, director of workforce development for the Bay Area Chamber of Commerce’s Hay Bay City initiative, told the Bay City City Commission on Feb. 3 that the program’s fourth-quarter 2024 balance stood at $185,786 and that the initiative connected 74 job seekers with potential employers over the year.

The update summarized recruitment and marketing work funded through the initiative. “We recognize that workforce development is not just about job postings. It requires strong partnerships and proactive engagement with both educational institutions and businesses,” Parker said. Chamber marketing manager Annabelle Schweiger gave web and social metrics: quarter 4 website views were about 95,000 with 36,000 users and job-page views at roughly 51,000; combined social views across Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn in Q4 were reported at about 1,160,000, and the initiative’s total audience (email + SMS + social) was cited at roughly 1,204,000.

The presentation listed program activity in 2024: 192 employer sign-ups (16 new), 227 face-to-face meetings with employers, educators and partners, 39 quarter-4 visits from people exploring local employment opportunities and 74 job seekers connected with employers during the year (11 of those in Q4). Parker said Q4 alone produced about 60 resumes and 11 applications on the program’s TrueJob platform, and she explained the difference between “apply now” and “apply at company website” click metrics.

Commissioners pressed for additional detail. Commissioner DeWitt said he reviewed the job board and found 64 listed jobs from 13 companies, only 40 of which were classified as full time, and that roughly 70% of listings did not show a pay range. DeWitt also flagged what he described as a high share of budget going to wages, estimating that if current quarterly patterns continued “it’s 93% of the budget spent on wages.” He called that a “yellow flag.”

Meghan Sameh, president and CEO of the Bay Area Chamber, responded that the initiative’s accounting draws from both city and county accounts and that wages reflect the person-to-person work required for outreach and employer engagement. “When we draw down, we go back and forth between the city and the county on a wage,” Sameh said, adding that that accounting can make monthly numbers look uneven. Parker said the team is working with employers to encourage posting at least salary ranges and to improve the local relevance of job feeds that are pulled in through contracts with regional partners.

Speakers also discussed staffing and storytelling. Sameh explained that a previous content contractor, Phil, did not renew a full-time contract because he had taken on additional regional and statewide work; the chamber has hired additional staff, issued an RFP for content copywriters and plans to continue producing videos and photos with local creators. The chamber noted plans to continue collaborating with local higher-education institutions and downtown partners on student housing and retention efforts.

Presenters and commissioners placed the work in a broader demographic context: the chamber said projections show Bay County could experience a 19% overall population decline and a 24% workforce decline by 2045 and that the county is currently among the oldest in Michigan by per-capita age. Chamber leadership said the initiative views the ARPA-funded effort as a multi-year investment and expects to spend the awarded funds before the ARPA spend-down deadline the chamber cited as Dec. 30, 2026, while pursuing additional regional funds from partners such as McLaren, Dow and SVSU.

The commission did not take formal action on the presentation. Commissioners and chamber staff said they will continue quarterly reporting and that the Hay Bay City committee will present a spend-down plan and further recommendations at upcoming meetings.

Hay Bay City presenters said they welcome further questions from commissioners and will follow up with requested figures such as population-change numbers and an analysis of the web-traffic spikes noted on slide 7.