Chamber outlook event centers on workforce development

Last edited 3:12 p.m., Dec. 3, 2015

Workforce development was the topic of discussion Wednesday afternoon at the 2015 Manufacturing Outlook presented by the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce.

Roughly 240 members of the community and manufacturing sector officials attended the event held at the University Plaza Hotel & Convention Center, 333 S. John Q. Hammons Parkway.

Speakers included Springfield Business Development Corp. board President Tom Rankin; city of Springfield Director of Workforce Development Mary Ann Rojas; and SRC Holdings Corp. Organizational Development Manager Krisi Schell. Each introduced a promotional video geared toward eliciting interest in Springfield’s engineering and manufacturing fields from companies, skilled workers and high school students.

Rankin, managing director with Sperry Van Ness/Rankin Co. LLC, said SBDC’s video is part of the Talent Attraction Initiative launched last year to help drive employee recruitment in the area. The video presented by Rojas is the product of conversations with the chamber’s Stainless Steel Manufacturing Industry Council intended to encourage high school students to consider careers specific to the trade.

After presenting a Springfield Public Schools video on the Greater Ozarks Center for Advanced Professional Studies, Schell invited three students from the engineering and manufacturing strand to the stage to share their experiences. Students have toured local facilities, participated in training sessions and worked alongside professionals on special projects. Students also spoke about how GO CAPS has affected their college plans.



“What’s had the most impact on me so far has been visiting the Springfield airport and seeing the area where they repair the planes, because that’s what I’m passionate about,” said Kickapoo High School student Sam Losey. “Seeing how planes actually work confirmed that’s what I want to do for the rest of my life.”

Central High School student David Ehie said the program taught him problem-solving skills and how to work as part of a team.

“I don’t know exactly what I want to do, but it gave me extra ideas,” Ehie said. “Before, I didn’t really pay much attention to software engineering, but it caught my interest, and there’s so many more engineering majors that I want to get into.”

Chamber President Matt Morrow - who served as master of ceremonies for the event - said more than half of the 17 companies currently considering a move or expansion to Springfield are part of the engineering and manufacturing sector.

“What’s more is 75 percent of the new jobs that will be created in this market over the course of the next 10 years will be by companies that are already here,” Morrow said. “In addition to competing to attract job creators to our market, we have to do everything we can to set the table for the expansion and growth of our existing bread and butter – local companies and job creators that are already here.”