Penmac opens Workforce Development Center

by Kris Ann Hegle

SBJ Contributing Writer

Employment services are more than matching applicants with open positions. A new business service in Springfield seeks to enhance job and life skills to make employees more attractive and enable employers to recruit and retain better employees.

Penmac Personnel Services Inc., which recruits, screens and places employees, expanded its mission recently with the addition of a new 3,600-square-foot job-training center. The center opened Aug. 9 in downtown Springfield, and Patti Penny, Penmac's owner, said the center's mission is to train future workers and help employers retain employees.

Penny, who has 14 Penmac offices in Missouri, spent more than $470,000 renovating the center's building on South Patton.

"It's a dream fulfilled because I have long felt that Penmac must do more to prepare people for the jobs we offer," Penny said. "In 1998, Congress passed the Workforce Investment Act ... We're following the lead that already has been established by federal and state governments."

Tony Moore, director for the Penmac Workforce Development Center (PWDC), said the center is one of many opening across the country. Before founding the PWDC, Moore visited another center in LaCrosse, Wis., which specializes in work force development.

"There's been a lot of changes in the last 10 years in American industry," Moore said. "We've seen companies downsize or restructure. New technology has created a demand for more skilled workers, and global competition among businesses has increased. The labor market is tight, and to get a good job, you must have good job skills."

Skills training is free to those who sign up with Penmac Personnel Services, and many job seekers use the center's computers to learn 10-key entry, take self-instructional typing courses or learn software applications. PWDC also has a complete line of training materials and self-assessment tests produced by Carlson Learning Co.

According to Penny, many of the challenges faced by employees and employers are beyond job skills. To help Penmac's clients meet those challenges, the company has teamed up with a number of businesses and community agencies.

Penmac's partners include the Community Partnership of the Ozarks, which pro-vides community resources[[In-content Ad]]