Talent & Workforce

Telling a story and changing the narrative When Mary Kellogg’s husband, John Joslyn, told her about his plans to open a museum about the famous sunken ocean liner Titanic, she understood. After all, John had produced a major network television special about the expedition that found the shipwreck and even participated in the dives. When…

Demonstrating GO CAPS to a state leader The Greater Ozarks Centers for Advanced Professional Studies (GO CAPS) is in its second year of showing local high school students a handful of the professional opportunities available in four different fields of work. Enrollment in the program has grown dramatically – from 105 students in the program’s…

Leadership Kickoff features John Wanamaker & Britton Jobe The Network and Leadership Springfield had a huge turnout for our 2017 Leadership Kickoff event, with more than 100 members attending lunch and a Q&A session with new Chamber Chair John Wanamaker from BKD, LLP and Network Chair Britton Jobe from Neale & Newman. Leadership Springfield Board…

Springfieldian honoree offers guidance for young professionals By his own account, one of the abilities Bill Kirkman developed over his career was the ability to listen to others and learn from them. If those in attendance at the most recent installment of The Network’s CEO Series have the ability to listen, they likely learned a…

Businesses, schools reiterate importance of workforce development Chamber staff recently brought State Speaker of the House Todd Richardson to the Chamber offices to talk with business and education leaders about workforce development and education issues, and the speaker heard about the continued challenges those leaders face. Richardson visited the Chamber on October 10 to kick…

Chamber’s education attainment initiatives get financial boost The Chamber continues growing its efforts in workforce development, and national organizations are recognizing our efforts. Chamber officials learned on July 18 that ours was one of six organizations in the country to receive the 2016-17 ACCE Award for Education Attainment, given out by the Association of Chamber…

A carnival for young professionals Stilt walkers, jugglers and musicians. Oh my. When The Network – the Chamber’s young professionals group – gathered June 3 to celebrate the year’s accomplishments, they were in for quite a party. In previous years, the annual event has consisted of a weekday luncheon at a hotel or a conference…

Bringing the best, brightest to Springfield When the Chamber added workforce development as its fourth strategic area of focus a year and a half ago, we were answering a need. As part of our Existing Business Support Program, we asked businesses about their most pressing concerns, and one issue consistently topped the list: workforce. But as…

Teacher externship program gears up for Year Two Teachers have a difficult job preparing students for the working world that awaits them after graduation. It’s a combination of making students aware of the opportunities available and teaching the skills they need to take advantage of those opportunities. But to do that, teachers need to know…

Employee education: What’s it worth? In their quest to attract and retain talented employees, companies consider many options. One getting increased attention is support for education and professional development. That was the focus of a special session of the Chamber’s “60 Minutes to Success” educational series on March 29. The session, “Supporting Education Attainment,” included…