Springfield firms join Nixon's Next-Generation Jobs Team

Associated Electric Cooperative Inc. hires more than 20 interns a year to work in engineering, power production, information technology and other departments.

"I don't think there's any area that we haven't had an intern," said Nancy Southworth, manager of corporate communications for Springfield-based AECI.

Now, with help from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, AECI and other employers will receive funding to pay for those intern positions.

The Missouri Next-Generation Jobs Team is a stimulus-funded program for students ages 16 to 24 to sign on with companies for paid summer internships. Gov. Jay Nixon was at the AECI offices in early April to kick off the program in southwest Missouri.

"To create new jobs and turn this economy around, we must ensure that Missouri has highly trained, highly skilled workers who are ready to compete for the careers of tomorrow," Nixon said in a news release. "Our Next-Generation Jobs Team will help young Missourians identify emerging careers in high-growth, high-tech industries, and they'll spend a summer gaining experience that will give them a leg up on the competition."

High interest

The $25 million program, administered by the U.S. Department of Labor, will match up to 6,000 interested students with companies offering work in technology, health care and green industries.

Interested companies and students can sign up and register at www.summerjobs.mo.gov, though interest in the program, which runs through Sept. 30, already exceeds the space available.

"At this point, we have about 1,000 businesses that have applied, and we have about 8,000 youth applicants," Nixon spokesman Scott Holste said.

He said the information is then sent on to local work force investment boards. In Springfield, Missouri Career Center, 1514 S. Glenstone Ave., will pair interns and companies.

Jamie Moss, summer youth program coordinator for the Springfield center, said more than 100 companies have applied from the seven-county coverage area of Christian, Dallas, Greene, Polk, Stone, Taney and Webster counties. The Springfield Career Center will receive about $1.8 million in funding, enough for roughly 360 jobs.

Interviews are under way with businesses that applied, including AECI, CoxHealth, St. John's Health System and Watts Radiant Inc.

"The governor's stated goal is to place kids in higher-paying private-sector jobs such as health care and technology," Moss said. "We don't just want them mopping floors; we want them to learn skills they can take into the future."

High-tech work

Mopping floors is not in the cards for interns at AECI, Southworth said. She noted that of the company's six division managers, two started as interns for the company.

For those starting out in the power supply industry, Southworth said there is room for advancement due in part to a large-scale exodus at the industry's top levels. The last big boom of power plant construction, she said, was in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and many employees were added with those facilities.

"Those people are reaching retirement age, and that's a lot of expertise walking out the door," she said. "In the last few years, we've had a concerted corporate effort to beef up training, recruiting, internships, and bring in new talent to the organization. ... But it's an industrywide phenomenon."

She added that new technology and environmental regulations that will require new job skills also provide job opportunities in the energy field.

Health care is facing a similar need for experience, due to increased demand from the aging population and retiring nurses and doctors.

Both Springfield health systems were approved for the Next-Generation Jobs Team. CoxHealth has requested about 30 interns, though companies aren't guaranteed that they'll receive students to fill every position. Nixon spokesman Holste said pay rates will run between $7 and $8 an hour, though the wages are negotiable based on the student's age and experience level.

Sunny Fuller, CoxHealth recruitment manager, said a variety of positions are available, from clerical work to assisting in patient care.

"I think it's going to open their eyes in a way to see what jobs are out there in the health care field," Fuller said. "It's like a little city. So many students don't know what occupations there are and how many diverse things they can do in a hospital."