Unemployment’s silver lining

Call it the “silver lining” in an otherwise dreary period for the U.S. economy. It is taking the form of employment opportunities that are presenting themselves in Northeast Missouri during seemingly lean economic times.
In a heartbeat, George Walley, executive director of the Northeast Missouri Economic Development Council, will tell you that he doesn’t want anyone desiring a job to be unemployed. However, following a period when this area was “for all practical purposes at almost full employment of the skilled labor force capable of being employed by manufacturing,” the closing of Dura South and layoffs at other local companies is not as dire news as one might think.
“To attract new companies to our region you’ve got to have people or the jobs aren’t going to move here. If you’re fairly fully employed a new manufacturer sees that as a hard road to hoe,” said Walley.
During these challenging economic times, some companies are looking for “greener pastures.” There are those who view Northeast Missouri as such a destination.
“The number of inquiries coming into my office by manufacturers or consultants representing manufacturers wanting to come into our region has only been picking up,” said Walley. “In those visits it actually works to my benefit to mention the bad news ... to mention the layoff.
“It’s always a delicate balance of explaining we’ve had some layoffs. The Dura announcement has actually worked to my advantage in the short run when I’m making proposals to companies. I’ve very specifically said we’ve had a plant closing (Dura South) and we’ve had an announcement of a plant (Dura North) that’s going to be closing by the end of the year. That’s a signal to companies that there are people who have been in manufacturing in one skill set or another and they may be available.”
Available labor is not this area’s only potential strong suit, according to Walley.
“They have looked at infrastructure - river, rail and highways - and we stood out like an obvious target,” he said. “I’ve had more calls that knew almost nothing about us except through our news announcements on transportation. Those were getting entered into a computer system and that data was all of a sudden showing money can be saved by going and talking with communities in a certain radius. All of a sudden Hannibal and Marion County, and Ralls, Adams and Pike counties started jumping off the map.”
During the month of July, Marion County’s unemployment rate (6 percent) was below that of the state (6.4 percent), but slightly above the national rate (5.7 percent).
“We don’t have such high unemployment in the Hannibal/Quincy area that we have to get on our hands and knees and go, ‘Please come to our town,’” said Walley, adding, “We have a good labor force.”
Terry Sampson, executive director of the Hannibal Area Chamber of Commerce, says retailers are not reporting problems filling job openings.
“That’s one thing I really haven’t heard much,” he said. “Things overall seem to be going fairly well in comparison with the rest of the state and country. Around here there seems to be for the most part plenty of work and a good pool to draw from.”
Even specialized employment slots are not remaining open long.
“If that is an issue or there are concerns, I haven’t heard it. Typically I’ll hear those sort of things. It just seems like we do a pretty good job of recruiting and those positions are typically filled,” said Sampson.
Marion County’s unemployment rate was below that of Northeast Missouri (6.9 percent) during July. Lincoln County, where 2,079 people were unemployed, led the way at 8 percent. Behind it came: Monroe County, 7.6 percent; Pike County, 6.1 percent; Ralls County, 5.8 percent; Shelby County, 5.2 percent; and Lewis County, 4.7 percent.
Kim Cull, workforce specialist at the Missouri Career Center, says Northeast Missouri is holding its own employment-wise.
“Statistically, we’re hanging pretty close with the rest of the state. I don’t think that our region is suffering or prospering any differently than the rest of the state,” she said.
This summer’s flood impacted area employment, according to Cull.
“There were several people that were displaced from their jobs because of the water,” she said. “We had a special program for employers and employees. There were special lines that they (employees) called to access benefits and for the employers so they could find out what’s available and what they needed to do on their end to take care of their needs and employees’ needs.”
The Missouri Career Center, located at 203 N. Sixth in Hannibal, serves residents in Marion, Ralls, Pike, Lewis and Clark counties. The center’s staff stands ready to help those seeking employment.
“We provide resume services. We help people develop resumes. We also do cover letters and follow-up letters,” said Cull. “We also help them in trying to develop new ideas about job searching through networking and just using tools like that as far as job searching goes.”
The MCC is not solely focused on the unemployed.
“We also work very closely with businesses and try to develop partnerships with some of the local businesses,” said Cull, noting that the MCC will host a career fair from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 25. “Right now we’re encouraging businesses that might be interested in participating in that to register. Job seekers will be coming in to talk to employers about what it takes to become employed with their business.”
An online service - www.missouricareersource.com - is provided to help link the unemployed with potential employers.
“Employers can put jobs on or they can come to us and we will list the jobs for them. The job seekers are able to go to that Web site and view a list of job openings that are available statewide,” said Cull, noting that a job seeker can enter a specific Missouri zip code and see employment opportunities within a 25-, 50- or 75-mile radius.
An assortment of services are available through a number of agencies that partner with the MCC. Those partnering agencies include: Division of Workforce Development; Workforce Investment Board; Pike-Lincoln Technical Center; Hannibal Career & Technical Center; Division of Family Services; Northeast Community Action Corporation; Experience Works; Learning Opportunities; Division of Vocational Rehabilitation; Moberly Area Community College and Gamm, Inc.