Iowa faces a growing problem as it tries to attract new employers and battle an unemployment rate of more than 5 percent: the state has a shortage of skilled workers.

That will be the focus of a meeting set for 2:30 p.m. Thursday at the Newton Development Corporation office. At the meeting, state senators Dennis Black and Dan Kelley of Newton along with Mike Gronstal of Council Bluffs, the senate majority leader, will meet with community college officials and local business owners to discuss how the state can help fill skilled worker shortages.

“Ensuring that more workers get the training they need must be part of helping Iowans recover from the national recession,” Black said. “The current skill shortage is a serious drag on our economy. By 2018, 62 percent of all jobs in Iowa — 1.1 million jobs — will require some training or education beyond high school. Yet nearly 10 percent of Iowa’s working-age adults do not have a high school diploma.”