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For the past 18 months, a Techno-Tools & Telework Team, under the auspices of Kitsap Regional Coordinating Council, has been studying and pushing the idea of a telework pilot project in Kitsap County. The pilot project would create a blueprint that could be used in other areas of the state, and show how to manage teleworkers, identify the best candidates, gauge off-site productivity and so on. This year’s Legislature bought into the proposal, earmarking $150,000 through Department of Transportation.
Ed Stern, a Poulsbo city councilman, has been advocating the telecommuting idea for years. He believes telecommuting is the solution to not only our region’s gridlock, but many other “ills” like air pollution, lack of community involvement and workers whose family life is challenging due to long commute. He has long been saying that Kitsap County is ideal for a pilot project because the majority of its workers commute, and many commute two to four hours a day. The Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal visited with Stern to ask his thoughts on telecommuting and an update on the project.
KPBJ: What is happening with the Telework Pilot Project currently?
ES: We were one of the few projects to make it out of the short (legislative) session that was all about saving money. We convinced the Legislature to make Kitsap the lead instead of King County… We’ll be executing the contract shortly with the Department of Transportation — the Kitsap Regional Coordinating Council will be the signatory agency.
KPBJ: Why do this in Kitsap County?
ES: Necessity is the mother of invention. Kitsap is now a captive county for a majority of its workers — the ferries, the tolls, traffic congestion and cost of gasoline all create a perfect storm. The solution is not an expansion of the road system even if we could afford it. The idea is to take those who work with their head and part-time separate them from those who work with their hands… Given how economy has shifted to knowledge workers from blue-collar workers, that’s the biggest piece of the puzzle to help the transportation system. Besides wasted time is the wasted resource of gas that is not only crashing the workers at nearly $4 a gallon but also choking the environment. It would also make workers more productive, and keep more of the tax base in the community. It’s good for the schools, businesses, economy and the county but the biggest benefit is to you and me, the taxpayer. Who pays for ferries, road expansions? We do. The Legislature has recognized this. Timing is everything.
KPBJ: What are the biggest challenges with implementing this project?
ES: Managers are used to managing people every day on their job. You have to go from managing by the clock to managing by a deliverable. We need to help establish contracts, and help employers overcome their fears… People hate change — it’s the crisis that creates change. It’s really cool that Kitsap has taken its problems and in the process is creating lemonade and becoming a leader not only in the state but also in the Northwest.
KPBJ: How will the program work?
ES: The project is very tight and very specific. We will be selecting 75 employers on the Kitsap side and some large companies on the Pierce/King/Jefferson sides. We will assist them to identify employees, track deliverables (etc). At the end of the year, we will deliver a tool kit that could be used (anywhere).
KPBJ: Is there enough infrastructure in place to implement it?
ES: It’s been sitting there, waiting for the perfect storm. We’ll be identifying hot spots or telecommuting centers. They key is ultimately the home… The office park of the 21st century is already built: our home.
KPBJ: Who are the biggest skeptics of telecommuting?
ES: For one bright, shiny moment, they (lawmakers) got it, not the present but the future and how it can work for us. It’s all of us, who are used to doing something a certain way; that’s how we used to do things and our systems are built to accommodate that. We’re the biggest threat because it upsets the apple cart. Our biggest problem is us — and our biggest opportunity is us.
KPBJ: What are the next steps?
ES: We have a long list of likely suspects (employers). We’ll create an electronic diary so people participating will enter parameters of whether they’re physically present or via telecommuting; we’ll create contracts, keep track of work done and delivered — then compile the data into kits for employers and employees. It will be a roadmap for how Aberdeen, Pullman, Seattle, let alone Kitsap, can do it now, utilizing existing infrastructure.
KPBJ: How long do you think it will be before the concept catches on?
ES: If we go to $5 gasoline, it will happen yesterday. I think taxpayers are fed up (about) using these 19th century ideas of how to get to the workplace. The Internet can be used for a lot more than entertainment, we haven’t even tapped the potential. So far it’s been a novelty and convenience — soon it will be as much a necessity as our cars and roads.
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