Beth Townsend is a lawyer — and a former JAG (judge advocate general) with the U.S. Air Force — rather than a mechanic or a doctor. But when Gov. Terry Branstad needed someone to repair or resuscitate a broken agency he twice turned to the 51-year-old Townsend. 

First the Shenandoah native and former Nebraska resident turned around the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, which had gained a reputation for a big backlog of cases that Townsend and her team whittled. Then, in February, Branstad appointed Townsend as director of Iowa Workforce Development, where Teresa Wahlert had resigned after being accused of bullying employees and pressuring administrative law judges to side with employers. 

Townsend is an Iowa Cubs fan with two degrees from the University of Nebraska and a history of following the Kansas City Royals. She credits her parents for convincing her she should aim high in her career, studying to become an administrator rather than a rank-and-file worker, discrimination against women in the workplace aside.

Here’s a look at Townsend’s perspective on a range of issues.

What is your main goal as you settle in at Iowa Workforce Development after your years as executive director of the Iowa Civil Rights Commission?
IWD has been in a state of turmoil for a while. My main goal is I want to change the conversation at IWD. I want IWD to become the go-to agency in the state for workforce issues. I want it to be viewed throughout the state as a problem-solving agency, as a very nimble and responsive agency, as a highly efficient agency, and not a barrier. When employers and legislators and citizens in Iowa are talking about workforce issues, I want them to think of us as the experts and a place to go for assistance.”

What have you done to learn more about the agency?
I visited all 15 field offices and I went to the four satellite offices. I went to all the community colleges. I met with a lot of legislators, business organizations, employers. I was very gratified by the response that I got from the community at large. 

What are the biggest challenges for Iowa’s workforce?
We don’t have enough workforce. That is the biggest issue right now. With a 3.7 percent unemployment rate — and that’s been going down in recent months — most people who are looking for jobs and don’t have barriers are employed, and gainfully employed.

The struggle is helping those individuals — whether than are disabled, whether they are dislocated youth, no matter what barrier they have to employment — helping those individuals find employment. And then finding and developing the workforce we need going into the future. In talking to employers around the state, they are always looking for more qualified employees.

My understanding is 2.1 percent is our maximum unemployment rate. That would mean everyone who could work is working. 

What role should immigration and out-of-state recruiting play?
There are a lot of efforts to expand the workforce. We do have programs like Home Base Iowa, where we are trying to recruit veterans who are leaving active duty. It is my understanding there will be 500,000 active duty members (leaving active duty) in the next 12 to 18 months. We would sure like a lot of them to come to Iowa, regardless of whether they have Iowa roots.

We are working hard with community colleges to develop programs, whether that is a short-term certificate program that an employer has identified as a need immediately, or more longer-term programs. We are working with the STEM program. I am on the STEM Advisory Council. 

What is changing in the workplace?
One of the things that employers are looking at is we have to get past this traditional paradigm where everyone works 8 to 5, Monday through Friday, because the generations that are coming up now are not interested in working that schedule. They want to have more days in a row off, and work longer days the days that they work.  

What are you expecting in vacation trends?
I do think it is important for people to take some time to unplug, whether that is taking a couple of hours to do some reading or hang out with their family or go to a baseball game. I don’t take my work phone to baseball games, I will tell you that. But we have kind of been conditioned that we have to have that phone with us 24/7.

I do think that employees hit a point of diminishing returns. You can only work so many hours and so many days until you get to that point where you just aren’t productive. Maybe you are still working, but how much are you really producing? And so it’s going to be interesting to see how employers are going to find out where that line is. Quality of life issues are very important to employees. And I think employers are doing a better job of identifying whatever it is that contributes in a positive way to their employees quality of life and looking at new avenues to improve that. Whether that’s flexible hours or working from home. 

What do you do when you aren’t working?
I spend a lot of time with my two German shepherds. I have a 3-acre lawn. It takes three hours to mow on a rider. I like that. It’s three hours where you are completely unplugged. I grow tomatoes and flowers. I like to travel. I took my son to Spain and France for a couple of weeks. We toured the D-Day beaches on July 4, which was humbling. I wish that every American could go and see those beaches.