Partnership provides benefits for employers and job seekers

Saline County employers and citizens seeking employment have a friend in the Family Resource Center as it expands its services.

The resource center, more commonly known as a Missouri Career Center, is based in Marshall as part of the Missouri Valley Community Action Agency. One of its main goals is to provide quality employment and training services to individuals seeking careers. Another is to meet the needs of employers.

In recent months, the center has been working to improve its services with the help of the Missouri Department of Economic Development and the Marshall-Saline Development Corporation.

"We're expanding what we're doing to be more vital to our employers," said Melanie Corporon, job development/training program director, using mattress manufacturer Eastman House in Sweet Springs as an example. "We'll still help the job seeker, but a new focus for us is to shift and provide additional services for the employer. Our goal is to put people to work. So, by serving the employer better, I think we can help people find work better."

MSDC Executive Director Roy Hunter said the partnership involved in Eastman House moving from Burlington, Iowa, to Sweet Springs was the corporation's first opportunity to become a partner in such as project.

"It was mutually beneficial to the community as well as the displaced (Rival Manufacturing) workers," he said. "It's the cooperation between the career center, MVCAA, the Department of Economic Development -- it's the first time we've ever worked together on one project."

MVCAA business representative Susan Hunter, who worked with Roy Hunter, Corporon and center coordinator Mary Ann Piper, said the career center pre-interviewed prospective employees and arranged an interview schedule for Eastman House Vice President of Operations Dennis Casey.

"We provided the interview space, did pre-employment paperwork and scheduled physicals, drug screens and got all the specifics," she said, adding four individuals even attended training sessions out of state. "I think that was instrumental to (Casey)."

That work is still paying off, Casey said. He expects to hire nine more people by the end of this week, which would bring the total number of employees to 22.

"It's been a great partnership," he said. "It's like the best you could hope for at any location. But in most places you don't find all that."

Casey said the partnership had an impact on the company's decision to move to Sweet Springs instead of another location.

"Certainly, the economics were right, it was the right price, the work ethic in the area was right ... . But when we started working with Roy Hunter and the career center, they really went above and beyond."

Declaring the project a success so far, the partners are planning to continue their relationship. They will be meeting with area employers to better identify their needs, and the career center will do its part to provide job seekers with training and employment needs.

"I think our relationship with these workers is good, being able to tell them this is a solid project, you're not just in this for a while," Hunter said. "And the employer, he was very impressed with the quality of people interviewed. These interviews were a big selling point for the project."

The next part of the partnership plan is to work on three areas: basic job skills, work ethics or "self" skills and industry-specific skills and training.

Corporon said the center's goal for job seekers is to help them find work as quickly as possible. At the same time, the partners are also focusing on issues employers deal with, such as health care/patient care, hospitality/customer service, social service/human service needs and industry-specific needs.

The partnership will be working with educational partners as well, and hopes to secure a community development corporation grant that would help fund future projects.

Contact Naomi Campbell at

marshallfaith@socket.net