Ozark Region & City of Springfield Department of Workforce Development Bring Home Awards
The Ozark Region Workforce Development Board and City of Springfield
Department of Workforce Development were recognized at the 2017 Missouri Association
of Workforce Development (MAWD) annual conference.
Sally Payne, Assistant Director for the City of Springfield’s Department of
Workforce Development, received the 2017 Keystone Award, recognizing
experienced workforce development staff that are not on the ‘front line’
working directly with customers, but are providing the highest level of service
behind the scenes in areas such as administrative support, financial expertise,
information technology or other workforce development support related areas. A
full description of the award criteria is available here.
The Ozark Region Workforce Development Board was awarded $2,500 for
the 2017 Local Excellence Award in Partnership. The award was designed to
promote WIOA partnering activities through local Workforce Development Boards.
The full description is available here.
Ozark Region Workforce Development Board Skills Department Supervisor,
Tracy Polk, and Communications Coordinator, Megan Short, were elected to the
MAWD board as president-elect and public information chair, respectively.
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Case Management and
Job Matching Change Coming Soon!
The new Geo Sol Virtual OneStop system replacing case management and the current job matching application will be rolled out soon. As you have seen in training, there will be enhanced integrated services for individuals, employers, training providers, workforce staff, and one-stop partners with the goal of improving customer satisfaction, staff efficiency, and overall performance.
As the roll out date approaches, we urge you to continue using your new system training log in to keep yourself familiar with its features and functionality. Remember, under the staff log in there are Staff Guides available for your use in the Staff Online Resources and Staff Online Courseware tabs.
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From Deployment to Employment:
Veteran Success Stories
from the Field
Veterans Representatives across the state have been hard at work helping members of the armed forces find jobs once they return home. Here are just a few of their recent successes.
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Congratulations
to Debbie Prenger, DED’s May 2017 Employee of the Month!
Day in and day out, Debbie
consistently exudes the most positive demeanor, even under stressful
situations. Debbie’s attitude, willingness to go the extra mile, and
collaborative and upbeat spirit with all staff is unparalleled. Her quality of
work is consistently outstanding.
Debbie’s knowledge of protocols, processes and policies ensures
correspondence, out-of-state travel requests and other pertinent documents meet
expected standards. She is one of the first to jump in and help when needed and without asking. The most
impressive thing about Debbie is her positive outlook. She is always
friendly and upbeat, and is sincerely thoughtful and caring toward her
coworkers. All of these qualities may explain why she is respected and valued
by staff along with current and former WFD Directors and Acting Directors.
Congratulations Debbie!
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 Arnold Job Center Partners
with Unimin Corporation
The Arnold Job Center recently partnered with Unimin Corporation, a local mineral processing company, to provide services and their facility space to assist in hiring qualified employees. Combined with local newspaper advertisements, Unimin fully utilized Arnold’s Job Order Assistance services and WorkKeys Testing to collect applications and seek out the best candidates for the job.
With eight openings for Mineral Process Operators, and salaries ranging from $23 to $24 per hour, the Arnold Job Center received many applications, which were forwarded to Unimin management for consideration. The Arnold Job Center worked with the corporation to schedule dates and times for interviews over a two-week period.
After hiring the qualified candidates, Unimin staff utilized the Arnold Job Center facility for initial safety training for their new employees.
Thank you to the Unimin Corporation for giving the Arnold Job Center the opportunity to serve you and we wish you much success!
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 NEMO Job Fair is Another Success
It’s another one for the history books. More than 50 employers and 300 plus job seekers, the 2017 NEMO Spring Job Fair was the largest job fair to date in this area.
This year, the event featured many veterans’ services organizations, like the Columbia Veterans Center, to connect veterans with available job opportunities.
Industries represented included health care, manufacturing, food services, state employment, education and more, with businesses looking for employees in a wide variety of job openings.
The bi-annual event, a collective effort between the Kirksville Area Chamber of Commerce, the Kirksville Job Center, the Missouri Employer Committee and K-REDI, brings together a diverse lineup of local employers and job seekers.
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 Job Link Hiring Events
As you know, for the last six weeks Job Link Hiring Events
email notices have been sent in a weekly email blast. Also, a Job Link slider
has been posted to jobs.mo.gov for the past few weeks to announce weekly hiring
events. If you haven’t already seen a copy of the new DWD Job Link Hiring
Events newsletter for job seekers, click here.
This weekly newsletter is a compilation of hiring events
from across the state listed by region and is blasted to more than 175,000
individual emails each week. The statewide bulletin also creates opportunity
for indirect outreach when individuals share events with people they may know who
are looking for a job in Missouri. Using this new format allows more job
seekers to see hiring events and job fairs in each region.
Our upcoming issue will see some additional enhancements.
While keeping the same look, we are shifting to a more fluid format that will
allow us to continually post events after the current publishing deadline. A
one time email blast will go out on Wednesday letting seekers know the new hiring
events newsletter is also posted, but we will continue to add events for the
coming week as they are sent to us. This
means that no matter when someone clicks on the hiring events link—either on
the jobs.mo.gov homepage or in the email blast—they will see the most current
version of events.
So, keep those hiring events coming and we will continue to
spread the word!
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A special “Thank You!” to DWD’s own Sally Gourley from the Poplar Bluff Job Center for stepping up to help out the Department by assisting at the Multi-Agency Resource Center (MARC) in Van Buren on Saturday, May 12.
Sally was part of a team of non-profit, government and faith-based organizations coordinated by the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) to assist victims of the recent flooding.
MARCs are "one-stop shops" where disaster survivors can access services to begin their recovery process. Trained experts in areas like housing, insurance, food stamp replacement, mental health counseling and childcare are available to meet with residents to help identify potential resources.
MARCs also provide a place to meet and visit with others in the community who have had similar experiences for information, emotional and spiritual care and support. They also provide a place to get away from the disaster site, sit down and eat a nice meal.
Again, sincere thanks to Sally for her time and dedication to her community.
Workforce System staff make a difference in the lives of the people we serve. We know there are many success stories from across the state waiting to be told.
Send
us your staff accomplishments and job seeker or employer success stories to
share how your Center is making a difference in your community!
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