Renovations are under way to convert a former Price Cutter store at 2900 E. Sunshine St. in the Southern Hills Shopping Center to a 40,500-square-foot career development center for the Missouri Career Center.
The center’s current home, 1514 S. Glenstone Ave. in the Glen Isle Shopping Center, comprises 36,000 square feet.
“Our current facility is just not meeting our needs,” said Bill Dowling, the center’s director.
Missouri Career Center works with job seekers and hiring companies in Greene, Christian, Dallas, Polk, Stone and Taney counties. It also operates a Branson location and a mobile career center.
The center provides assessments, computers for job searches and résumé building, skills training and enhancement, and workshops for those seeking employment or looking to enhance their skills. The center’s 85 staff members also work with businesses, offering recruitment assistance and other help, such as ensuring the companies are aware of appropriate tax credits.
“The current facility is laid out with many individual offices and hallways and has a lot of wasted space,” Dowling said. “The new facility will be a new open floor plan concept, which will provide more security for our staff and will double the number of training rooms and computers.”
The new, build-to-suit space is leased from Southern Hills center owner Jared Enterprises for $11 a square foot, compared to $12.50 a square foot at the career center’s current space.
Curtis Jared, president and chief operating officer of Jared Enterprises, said when he learned that career center leaders were considering a move, he thought the former grocery store would be a good fit.
“I think it will be great for the shopping center, bringing a big daily influx of employees who work there and people visiting the center,” Jared said.
Jared declined to disclose renovation costs, but he said the work – led by general contractor Timberworks Building and Design – is expected to be completed by July 1, the official start date of the lease.
For more on this story, see the April 9–15 edition of Springfield Business Journal.[[In-content Ad]]
