Smart Workforce Solutions

The Missouri Career Center sets the bar high for innovative ways to help its business customers succeed and the region’s economy to reach its potential. Southwest Missouri’s Workforce Investment Board (WIB) sets the goals and designs the strategies behind the scenes to make it happen. A key accomplishment for the WIB in late 2006 is its entry into the National Business Learning Partnership (NBLP), a collaboration of protégé and mentor pairings to advance the quality and innovation of workforce programs across the U.S.

The Southwest Missouri WIB was one of only 21 top protégé groups selected nationwide to participate in NBLP. Jasen Jones and Tracy Lemmons represented Southwest Missouri recently at a kickoff training and matching event in Denver, Colorado. As part of the peer-to-peer matching of protégé WIBs with mentoring WIBs, Southwest Missouri was paired with the WIB of South Central Pennsylvania in Harrisburg, PA.

The Pennsylvania group will consult Southwest Missouri on ways to take the WIB to the next level of excellence and impact. The project’s workplan includes consulting and mentoring efforts related to use of Industry Consortium outreach, franchising standards for one-stop career centers, new data intelligence tools, and ways to collaborate across neighboring state lines to improve the Four-State area labor market as a whole.

Officials from the South Central Pennsylvania WIB are tentatively slated to visit Joplin February 5-7. In addition to collaborating with key staff locally, the Pennslyvania group will be meeting with prospective businesses in the Joplin and Monett areas interested in forming industry sector consortium groups along with members of the newly re-organized Four State Health Professions Consortium. Stay in touch with the latest on NBLP by visiting the WIB’s website at ww.workforcezone.net.

The Youth Outreach Workforce Partnership program has begun its second year of providing the “soft skills” training identified as missing in today’s workforce by a survey conducted by the Southwest Region Workforce Investment Board. These skills include: 1) getting a job (application do’s & don’ts, interview behavior & appearance), 2) customer service (greetings, thanking the customer, making change), and 3) keeping a job (good work habits, avoiding tardiness &
absenteeism, conflict resolution, interacting with team members & supervisors, being a good employee).

Able Manufacturing & Assembly, LLC, Southwest Missouri Bank, JCPenney, Inc, and Rock-Tenn Ave, St. John’s Regional Medical Center, Cardinal Scale, General Mills Bakeries & Foodservice and Vatterott College were all instrumental in the partnership with the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce, the Missouri Career Center, and the WIB.

The students in the program are given a tour of each facility followed by a seminar on one aspect of workforce skills that is particularly important to that company. Response from the students and businesses has been overwhelmingly positive. These businesses and several others have agreed to give a preferential interview to any applicant who successfully completes this program. All the applicant has to do is attach a copy of the Certificate of Achievement to their application. A copy of the certificate is available to view on the chamber website.

The Chamber encourages all of its member businesses to consider joining them in this Employer Interview Pledge and support these individuals in their attempts to become significantly qualified to join today’s workforce. Susan Adams, Able Manufacturing & Assembly, LLC, is the Chair of the committee. This year’s program runs through March, 2007. If you would like more information about this program or are interested in becoming a participating business, please contact Susan at 623.3060. Cary Beasley can be reached by phone at 624.4150.

Seed capital to launch the program in 2005 was provided by a grant from the Workforce Investment Board. The WIB is involved this year in helping organize the program link to the Missouri Career Center. Financial support for the Chamber now comes through corporate sponsorships. The Presenting Sponsor is General Mills Bakeries and Foodservice. Gold sponsors include: Cardinal Scale, LaBarge, Inc. - Electronics Division, Vatterott College and EaglePicher Technologies, LLC.