Talent Pipeline

In Springfield, workforce development is a high priority. We put a strong emphasis on our talent pipeline to ensure that there is a healthy flow of new potential employees to the area in order to meets the needs of all regional employers. This is done through a variety of programs, including Springfield’s Talent Attraction Initiative and the Greater Ozarks Centers for Advanced Professional Studies (GO CAPS). Other initiative support plans are in place such as:

• Expanding AP computer science offerings across the region
• Working to strategically connect employers with both interns and future employees through a new program called Experience Now.
• Partnering with the education industry in Springfield to ensure companies have their most important talent needs met both today and into the future

Programs

A key factor in growing your business is the quality and quantity of the workforce available to you. The Springfield Region puts a strong emphasis on developing our own workforce with the skills needed by the companies in the area as well as the future companies looking to make Springfield their home. In order to achieve this, we must invest in education and talent attraction by creating programs that assist employers in their talent search and equipping upcoming members of our workforce with the necessary resources to be successful.

Talent Attraction Initiative

In order for any city to thrive, workforce development must be a high priority, and part of having a strong workforce is the ability to attract the best and brightest talent to your company. To ensure that there is a healthy flow of new potential employees to the area, the region developed a targeted Talent Attraction Initiative to provide resources and tools that complement the existing talent recruitment efforts of local companies.

According to research conducted specifically for this initiative, the top five considerations for relocation are:

• Safe City
• Low Cost Housing
• Vibrant Economy
• Easy of Getting Around
• High Quality Medical Care

Knowing the information that is important to those looking to relocate to the Springfield Region, resources have been developed to depict the abundance of opportunities that are available in our region. The most comprehensive of all of those resources is  LiveInSpringfieldMO.com. This site compliments  marketing efforts already in place by HR personnel and recruiters and serves as a great depiction of what it is like to live and work in southwest Missouri.

Custom marketing collateral, relocation magazines and videos are also available to businesses throughout the region. For more information on customizations, contact Rachael Snow.

GO CAPS

Launched in 2015, the Greater Ozarks Centers for Advanced Professional Studies (GO CAPS) is an educational program that immerses high school students in professional environments through engaging curriculum driven by industry leaders and delivered by industry experts.  GO CAPS combines hands-on career experiences in a classroom setting located onsite at facilities of partnering employers.  Five course strands are currently offered through GO CAPS:

• Engineering & Manufacturing
• Medicine & Health Care
• Business & Entrepreneurship
• IT & Software Solutions
• Teacher Education

The program provides real-world, professional skills through a semester-based, yearlong curriculum, and is offered to students from 23 partnering school districts in and around the Springfield Region.

Education

Nearly 50,000 students attend college in the Springfield Region, 23,000 of which attend Missouri State University.  With many higher education facilities in the area, the following efforts to retain this upcoming workforce include:

• Internship programs that actively connect businesses with students studying in high-demand fields like engineering and IT
• Springfield’s young professionals organization, The Network, which has 500 paying members and is focused on retaining the best and brightest talent from area universities