When it comes to the economy, money talks.

And words were certainly flying Wednesday when the Vancouver Island Economic Alliance's annual State of the Island Economic Summit got underway.

Business leaders, stakeholders and Island industry representatives met at the Victoria Conference Centre to discuss how the Island can weather tumultuous economic seas, now and in the future.

Victoria Mayor Dean Fortin said he was happy to gather in the "Island's gateway" because "as the Island goes, as Victoria goes."

While many Island businesses are still weathering the recession's storm, there's another on the horizon – stirred up by aging baby boomers.

Numerous layoffs mean jobs are hard to come by, but there's looming shortage ahead.

Paul Darby, deputy chief economist for the Conference Board of Canada, said finding "warm bodies with a pulse" will be increasingly more difficult.

You don't need to be a top economist to figure that one out, but finding a qualified, skilled labour force to replace them is a little harder.

Young First Nations people are one solution. They're the fastest growing population on the Island, but to harness their skills, CEO of Port Alberni's Hupacasath First Nation said there needs to be jobs at the end of training programs.

"People go through a training program and all of a sudden there's no job. So there's some frustration there," Robert Duncan said.

It's something the B.C. construction industry has come up against while trying to fight a shortage of skilled trade workers.

The forest industry is also having a tough go of it.

"I can't believe how difficult it is to turn round cylindrical things into rectangles and squares," said Rick Jeffrey, CEO of the Coast Forest Products Association.

Sawmills are running at about 60 per cent capacity. Pulp mills fare a bit better at 70, and logging is at about 60 per cent.

There just aren't the markets for our lumber, Jeffrey said.

But all these measures of productivity and growth (or lack of) mean nothing if you don't measure the number of those slipping off the edge.

"What is the cost of people being hungry, not being educated and not being housed?" said Maeve Lydon with University of Victoria's office of community based research. "You're going to pay it in people not being productive."

As economists calculate cost-benefit analyses, food bins are drying up and line-ups at local Island food banks are getting longer.

"The way we're looking at the economy ... that is the problem," she said.

lweighton@vicnews.com