Smart Workforce Solutions
Archive for the 'Trends' Category
The Monett Area Missouri Employer Committee invites business owners and human resource professionals to its next seminar on Immigration.
Hal Wood, with Advisory Management Services, will present information on labor market and immigration, changes to immigration law, immigration issues with the application process, types of documentation, the “no match” letter, and new approaches and penalties from ICE for illegal hires. Read the rest of this entry »
Comments (0)Get Your Kicks on Route 66 is a vintage song that gave Joplin national recognition years ago as a popular stop along Historic Route 66. Joplin is back in the national spotlight for its business climate. A national business publication profiled Joplin as a top 25 “Choice City” among metro areas in the nation deemed most attractive for business development. Read the rest of this entry »
The Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations has updated the state’s minimum wage poster effective as of January 1 for the wage increase. Download the poster here to help keep your organization in compliance with posting requirements. Remember, don’t fall for direct mail scams to pay big bucks when these posters are available free through the Missouri Career Center!
The Milken Institute, a renowned independent economic think tank, released its study of the most expensive and least expensive states for businesses. The Show-Me state shows favorable to business with Missouri coming in as one of the states in the top least-expensive for doing business, ranking at 43 of 50 in total cost index overall.
A recent study by the Urban Land Institute found that many companies are finding a shortage of affordable housing close to work is making it more difficult to hire and retain entry-and mid-level workers. It also found that younger workers and workers earning $50,000 or less were significantly more likely to move closer to work if affordable housing were available than those with higher incomes.
Of those larger (100+ employees) companies surveyed, 58% reported having lost employees at least in part to long commute times, 69% believed a long commute time increases employee stress, 63% believed it triggers negative emotion among employees, 48% said it causes more absenteeism, and 46% said it contributes to turnover. Some of the solutions to long commute times offered by employers included flextime (45%) and telecommuting (21%).
The annual Festival of Friends in Carthage has gained a reputation of connecting different cultures and showcasing their uniquesness as well as similarity. The Carthage Multicultural Committee has opened the festival for local businesses and non-profit organizations to exhibit and connect with the participants. The festival is slated for 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 15th at Central Park in Carthage. For more information, contact Kate Massey at 417-359-8181 or send an email to cvb@ecarthage.com.
Total online job ads were 4,365,000 in April, an increase of 610,600 or 16 percent from March, according to The Conference Board Help-Wanted OnLine Data Series™ released recently. Part of the rise reflects seasonal factors including the longer reference period of mid-March to mid-April, when there were three more days than in the previous month. There were 2.9 advertised vacancies online for every 100 persons in the labor force in April. Over the year April ’06 – April ‘07, online advertised vacancies increased 24 percent for the nation as a whole.
Enhanced Enterprise Zone Tax Credit incentives are part of the economic development package that’s resulting in 30 new jobs with an average wage of $46,166 and a $6 million new investment from a Carthage-area manufacturer. Gov. Matt Blunt announced that the Missouri Department of Economic Development (DED) has approved $246,691 in Enhanced Enterprise Zone Program tax credits for Leggett and Platt, Inc., in Carthage.
Southwest Missouri Gains “Strategic Advantage” with New Data Resources
Posted by blog @ 3:54 pm 
Regional workforce and economic development professionals must ensure that their region’s workforce is prepared for the demands of a changing economy. This requires access to integrated, up-to-date, and regionalized data to help decision-makers steer their businesses and communities toward success. The Missouri Career Center is partnering with Economic Modeling Specialists Incorporated (EMSI) to bring the StrategicAdvantage data analysis suite to Southwest Missouri.
The concept behind StrategicAdvantage is simple: give business and community leaders the information they need to shape the economy and the local workforce. EMSI’s database includes 25 combined and augmented data sources, updates data twice a year with fresh information, and implements it all with industry leading web-based tools – Economic Forecaster, Economic Impact Analysis, and Career Pathways.
The 2007 Workforce Summit of Southwest Missouri was held in Joplin on April 4th. Surveys of the event indicate that the Summit was well-received. Participants found the content timely and engaging with strategies that are relevant and useful.
A panel on Workforce Competitiveness kicked off the Summit event. The panel featured Rob O’Brian of the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce, Rod Nunn from the Missouri Division of Workforce Development, and Roger Wagner from Crowder College.
Jasen Jones, Executive Director of the Workforce Investment Board, showcased new innovations for Workforce Competitivess. The presentation included a demo of the interactive Alchemy Training SISTEM, occupational planning and work readiness assessments from WorkKeys, web-based applicant screening through the Virtual Video Interview system, new talent development strategies with industry sector consortiums and cross-state partnerships underway with neighboring workforce regions in Arkansas, Kansas, and Oklahoma.
Pictured above is Ray Uhalde, the keynote speaker for the Summit. Ray’s keynote provided a thought-provoking blueprint to rethink education’s role to prepare students to thrive in a global economy. Ray is the Director of the Workforce Strategies Group at the National Center on Education and the Economy.
Copies of the presentation slides are available for download as a PDF. Click here to download the presentation by Jasen Jones on New Tools for Workforce Competitiveness. Click here to download Ray Uhalde’s keynote presentation, Tough Chocies or Tough Times on the New Commission for American Skills in the Workplace. Both documents contain slides from the presentations converted to PDF files. Podcasts of audio presentations from the Summit will be posted soon in our Podcast section of WorkforceZone.com.