Economic Development Includes a Focus on Affordable Housing

BY RICHARD T. PRZYWARA

AFFORDABLE HOUSING has a direct link to workforce development and economic mobility. Delaware leaders—beginning with the Dupont Company and Bancroft Mills—began building affordable housing for their workforce in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Their thinking was that if their workers had a nice house close to where they worked, it would be conducive to their health, contentment, and efficiency.

Entire neighborhoods were created to house the growing workforce, necessitating the addition of grocers, barbers, shoe stores, dry goods stores— we are all familiar with this cycle of economic development.

What is affordable housing?

In today’s housing market, the Milpitas School District in California is asking residents to rent rooms to teachers because they cannot afford to purchase a home in the district (median price exceeds $1 million for a home). And in Delaware? For a teacher with two years of experience and a salary at $50,000, they could purchase a home at $180,000. Could they live in Union Park Gardens? No, houses there are $239k. How about McDaniel Heights? Houses there are in the mid $300,000s. What about renting? The average monthly rent is $2,350 for a home in Fairfax.

To take a step back, how do we even define affordable housing? Affordable housing is housing which is deemed within the means to those with a household income at or below the median. Affordability is also intrinsically linked to income. Quality housing needs to be affordable compared to the wages we are paying.

Who will build it?

We also face a second challenge—who will build affordable housing? The building trades continue to see a decline in young people pursuing careers as plumbers, electricians, carpenters, and masons. Our society has spent the last few decades diverting young people from learning a trade to funnel them to college. I spent almost 25 years working in the college environment and I saw enormous benefits to a university education. However, there are comparable economic benefits to learning a skilled trade. There is ample research to demonstrate that the lifetime earnings can often be comparable among skilled workers and college graduates.

Our vocational school districts offer great facilities and exceptionally skilled teachers. We now must encourage younger generations to reconsider this economic life path. At Woodlawn Trustees, we have begun a partnership with Howard Vocational High School to just that. I would like to say we are doing this for completely altruistic reasons to help the youth of tomorrow but frankly, we are also doing this to help our business survive. The average age of my facilities staff is over 50. By taking interns, we are giving them their first work experience, and hopefully encouraging them to see this work as a viable career opportunity. Our company recognizes the need to play an active role in developing the workforce so there is a pipeline to hiring.

The City of Wilmington’s Youth Development Program is one example of how employers can connect with eligible applicants seeking opportunities in the construction trades. Through American Rescue Plan funding, youth between 16 and 24 years old who reside in the city can be matched with contractors working to revitalize properties on the east side of Wilmington. Participants receive necessary skills training, application assistance, credential attainment, and transportation assistance.

What can be done

Affordable housing needs several key supports to be available for our workforce. The first step is funding. Delaware currently has a shortage of 20,000 affordable housing rental units. Providers need a reliable source of funding to plan construction efforts and keep the units affordable to individuals making $15-30 per hour. We should consider part of the real estate transfer tax be directed to build affordable housing. Two, our state and local governments need to direct funding to support the growth of skilled trades. These jobs are an economic engine for the future, and it starts with the high school students. Lastly, we need to recognize that small businesses are a growth industry in construction and renovation for affordable housing. Connecting small contractors to new resources is critical so they can grow their business. n

Richard T. Przywara is president and CEO of Woodlawn Trustees.