A good corporate citizen

MOSES LAKE — While attending Moses Lake High School, Jeffrey Wiberg often heard classmates say there was nothing to do in the area.

They would talk about going out and experiencing the world, living in the big cities.

"Having grown up in big cities, I come to Moses Lake and view it as a kind of breath of fresh air," Wiberg said. "I think the quality of life here is superior to many other locations in the United States where I've lived. I don't have bars on my windows at home. That's a far cry from where I was in the Los Angeles area. People down there are no less bored than people up here, really. I think there's lots of opportunities here."

Wiberg has certainly attempted to make the most of those opportunities. He has lived in Moses Lake since 1994, when his father was offered the general manager position at a Moses Lake foundry.

After graduating, Wiberg worked to save for a mission for his church, teaching Spanish-speaking population members in San Diego, Calif., for two years.

Upon returning, he married his high school sweetheart, Crystal, about five years ago. They have two daughters, aged 3 and 1.

"We're going to go through a lot of effort to make sure we stay here, because this is where we feel home is," he said.

Wiberg pointed to the efforts of Vision 2020, the Moses Lake City Council and the Grant County Economic Development Council, all of which he sees as positive influences.

"I want to see this community progress to have further infrastructure without losing its hometown feel," he said.

Wiberg is branch manager of human resource management company Barrett Business Services Inc., where he has worked since April 2004.

The firm offers its services to large and small companies. For example, larger companies might hire BBSI to do the hiring, screening and placement of individuals in full-time year-round positions.

"We don't do a lot of temporary work, so if you call me a temp agency, I get a little edgy there," Wiberg said.

Other BBSI offerings include safety services, safety consulting, payroll services and human resources consulting.

"We can fill a function of being the HR department for companies where it doesn't make sense for them to have their own incumbent HR department," Wiberg explained.

Wiberg is also president of the local chapter of the Society of Human Resource Management.

Labor economics is a lot of what Wiberg does, while the objective of the operations task force is to ensure the infrastructure and resources, including labor, are present to meet the needs of the growth coming into the area.

Wiberg oversees the task force committee regarding recruitment of workers from in and outside of the Columbia Basin, marketing the jobs and the quality of life of the community.

Wiberg was invited to join following his efforts to address some of the issues the operations task force is dealing with in his capacity with the society.

Longtime area businesses are experiencing some growing pains due to the rapid growth of the economy, Wiberg said.

"We're creating jobs, but we need to also have the labor to be able to fill them," he said.

Wiberg feels things are going well with recruitment efforts thus far.

"One can't help but be impressed with the amount of effort and concern citizens on a voluntary basis are putting forth in this kind of an effort," he said. "We've heard comments from new companies in the area they've never experienced the kind of community support they've seen here in Moses Lake. It gives me a lot of pride to be involved with something of that nature."

The task force could use more support, Wiberg added, but it's the case with any volunteer organization.

Wiberg foresees the task force setting the stage for a system of marketing the community and jobs to outside areas. Once in place, he predicts an organization may take over the system in a maintenance capacity as soon as 2008.

"If we can synergize, bring a couple of these things together, that will be the best thing in the long run," he said. "But for the short run, we're needing this extra effort to just get things off the ground, invented, funded. You name it, we need to get it going."

If Wiberg doesn't have the employees to be able to hire, he won't be able to meet the needs of the clients for whom he hires.

In addition, Wiberg is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where one of the principal beliefs is to be good citizens in the community where one resides and give back to society.

"So it's incumbent upon us to get involved, but also it's my personality," he said. "I've always been involved in lots of volunteer roles in my community, because it's part of my religious belief, really, to give back to the community, be a good corporate citizen."