NIA Women of Impact: Commerce in their words

NIA’s Women of Impact Leadership Roundtable met in January to discuss Commerce. More specifically what is commerce (global, local and social definition), how it plays out in our communities and who are some of the women in our community influencing commerce. What we discovered is that the answers were a bit unsettling and this topic became one of the most engaged conversations to date at our monthly Roundtable series.

Let’s define Commerce: Merriam Webster says, as Noun, Commerce is:

1) The exchange or buying and selling of goods, commodities, property or services especially on a large scale and involving transportation from place to place.

2) Social intercourse: Interchange of ideas, opinions or sentiments.

3) The act of engaging in sexual intercourse.

We giggled a bit at No. 3, but Merriam continues; “Commerce is the conduct of trade among economic agents. Generally, commerce refers to the exchange of goods, services or something of value, between businesses or entities. From a broad perspective, nations are concerned with managing commerce in a way that enhances the well-being of citizens, by providing jobs and producing beneficial goods and services.” Here’s some takeaways:

• Commerce has existed from the early days of human civilization when humans bartered goods to the more complex development of trade routes and corporations.

• Today, commerce refers to the macroeconomic purchases and sales of goods and services by organizations.

• Commerce is a subset of business that focuses on the distribution aspect of business as opposed to the production side.

• The buying or selling of a single item is known as a transaction, whereas all the transactions of that item in an economy are known as commerce.

• Commerce leads to the prospering of nations and an increased standard of living, but if left unchecked or unregulated, it can lead to negative externalities.

• E-commerce is a variant of commerce in which goods are sold electronically via the internet.

So what’s happening locally to engage commerce. (not No. 3 we are assured!)

Our first speaker, Vicki Isakson, director of North Idaho College Workforce Development, gave us the brief rundown on the local and national workforce situation. Here’s where the unsettling part started within our group. We learned that no one wants to work, or at the very least, they want to work, but get paid more money than our local employers are able to pay. To make matters worst, employers often cannot find qualified employees and the ones that are, often do not stay, jump for better pay, want work from home or they simply want a change of scenery. Longevity and loyalty to an employer is a thing of the past.

We were reminded baby boomers are retiring in droves, students are not entering trades and collage enrollment is down. We also learned global birth rates are at a 30-year low. This all adds up to us wondering if we will even have a workforce moving forward. Unsettling right?

Second up: Jennifer Smock, Realtor/broker and co-owner of Windemere Post Falls spoke to us about the local housing market. Before I go any further, I’d like to compliment the women in the real estate and the Housing Coalition for all their hard work in this area. Workforce development and affordable housing are the No. 1 issues facing North Idaho right now and through the hard work of some amazing leaders, the are listening, putting a plan together and doing their darndest to find solutions to this very difficult housing issue. Keep up the great effort ladies!

Back to Jennifer. Jennifer walked us though the current housing market. She led us though history of where we were a few years back, how much prices have risen and where all our new neighbors are coming from. She showed us the statistic that tells us everything we need to know. Yes, Kootenai County has grown tremendously over the past five years and it’s not going to stop. Our home and rent prices are going to continue to keep moving, rising and our region will continue to expand. Our infrastructure is bursting and our taxes continue to increase. Unsettling.

Good news? Our ladies decided to find some. With growth comes opportunity to use the new tax dollars responsibility. To build world class schools, hospitals, parks, enhance the arts, diversify, learn and grown. There is also job growth opportunities with the talent moving into the area. So we collectivity decided to welcome that new neighbor, invite conversations to get to know them and tell them about our local service groups, gyms, community centers and places where they can engage and connect. We decided to embrace their new ideas, experience and talents, and engage them to know and embrace ours.

And our mornings final word on Commerce; Elaine Damschen and Sandy Young finished our February Roundtable by truly inspiring us as women that we can do anything! These two powerhouse entrepreneurs have built their companies from the ground up into multi-million dollar companies and each had one thing in mind when doing so: Lead with compassion and kindness. Be the very best employer you can be so your team and their families can thrive.

The Women of Impact Leadership meets once a month for a nine-month series, and we base our monthly agenda on the word IMPACTED. Example “I” for Inspiration was September’s topic and our speakers were women who spoke from their hearts and truly inspired our group. January “C” as you just read, was all about Commerce and our February focus is “T” where we discover “Technology” and the Ladies who make it happen in our community. To see the lineup of our monthly topics and to get details on additional programs NIA is offering to Impact women in our region, please visit our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/THENIALLIANCE

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Marilee Wallace, IOM, president/CEO of the North Idaho Alliance Women of Impact.