Help wanted in Lee County

With the unemployment rate dropping, finding good people has become a chief concern among business owners.

Consider: In a recent survey of Lee County executives by Florida Gulf Coast University and the Horizon Council economic development group in Fort Myers, 48% of respondents say they're having trouble finding qualified employees.

But executives aren't giving up. According to the survey, the most effective recruiting tool, cited by 58% of respondents, is networking, referrals and business contacts. After that was private and public job websites (50%), company's own website (42%), internship and apprentice programs (34%), college and university placement offices (32%), social media (24%), recruiting firms (23%), and newspaper advertisements (11%).