Summer move approaches for MO Career Center

Officials with the Missouri Career Center are working toward a summer move that would make it easier to meet the needs of the area’s unemployed and underemployed.

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. The center’s current home, 1514 S. Glenstone Ave. in the Glen Isle Shopping Center, comprises 36,000 square feet, where 85 employees of the federally funded center provide jobs-related services.

“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, with a Branson location and a mobile career center as well.

For workers, the center provides assessments, computers for job searches and résumé building, skills training and enhancement, and workshops. For businesses, there is assistance available for recruitment and to help companies meet state and federal guidelines and to ensure they are aware of and applying for 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.”

At the height of the recession, Dowling said the center was serving about 1,000 people per day, but that volume has declined by about half. Unemployment in the Springfield metropolitan statistical area fell in January to 6.6 percent, three-tenths of a point lower than in January 2011, but even so, Dowling said the center’s services remain in demand.

“We have been dealing with some layoffs recently, such as the Solo plant closing, and construction and manufacturing is not coming back as strong as we would like to see,” he said.

There are, however, industries that are hiring, Dowling said, pointing to hospitality, transportation and retail, including the Hy-Vee store that opened in October and did its hiring through the center.

While Dowling conceded that many retail jobs are part time and not high paying, he said those jobs are providing some stability to the economic climate.

“We are also always working with the economic development council to bring more businesses to the area,” Dowling said.

In addition to more space, another benefit to the coming move is that the Southern Hills’ build-to-suit space leases for $11 a square foot, compared to $12.50 per square foot at the Glen Isle center.

Dowling said several locations were considered for relocation of the center.

Curtis Jared, president and chief operating officer of Jared Enterprises, which owns the Southern Hills center, said when he learned that career center leaders were considering a move, he thought the former 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.

Jarod Michel, vice president of architecture firm Bates & Associates Inc., said the redesign of the store site reflects Dowling’s concerns about having open space.

There will be a large, open area inside the front door where employees will be able to help clients, and clients will be able to conduct computer searches, make copies or use the telephone, Michel said.

“The rest of the space is divided into separate wings for different functions,” he said, noting a youth area, which will help clients 16–22 years old to develop job skills, a workshop and training area with seven classrooms, large conference areas that can accommodate job fairs and an executive wing for administrators.

Michel said fitting an entity into existing space can be challenging.

“It does take effort and coordination with the tenant, but we thought of every scenario such as how employees get from department to department easily,” he said. “The goal was to create a space with a functional and friendly environment with separate areas for the different uses.”