Parson calls on Missouri lawmakers to increase investments in job generation

(The Center Square) — Since consolidating various initiatives under one workforce development program in 2019, nearly 100,000 Missourians have trained for jobs offered through partnerships with more than 400 companies and businesses have invested $2.5 billion in the state.

As a result, Gov. Mike Parson maintained in his State of the State address Wednesday, Missouri is now ranked 11th in the nation by corporate site selectors for expansion, up from 21st a year earlier.

Parson is seeking $21.8 million in workforce development funding within the $34.1 billion Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) budget request he submitted to lawmakers this week.

Much of the proposed allocation will be directed to Missouri One Start, which Parson successfully lobbied lawmakers to create as part of a 2019 omnibus workforce package that also established the Fast Track Workforce Incentive Grant program.

The programs, in addition to Parson’s November 2019 executive order creating the Office of Apprenticeship and Work-Based Learning, are designed to help people gain skills for high-need, high-pay jobs through certificate or degree programs at two- and four-year colleges orchestrated by the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development.

And they’re producing results, Parson said during his State of the State address.

“Accenture Federal Services in St. Louis, Chewy Incorporated in Belton, Amazon in Republic, Kawasaki in Maryville …” he said, reciting the names of companies enrolled in Missouri One Start and announcing Boeing and Ford Motor Co. will expand their participation in the coming year.

Amazon will open its fulfillment center in southwest Missouri’s Republic, creating more than 500 new full-time jobs that start at $15 an hour.

Kawasaki, already the largest employer in Nodaway County with 1,100 workers, is adding an assembly line and a second shift, creating 110 new jobs with training through Missouri One Start.

Parson noted Ranken Technical College’s $7.5 million advanced manufacturing training facility in Troy is a “great example of what we can accomplish when education, government and the private sector work together.”

Missouri One Start offers “training awards” that typically average between $1,000 and $3,000 per qualified employee. The overall grant is determined by the number of jobs, wages, and availability of resources.

Capital investment and high-wage jobs are keys to qualifying for Missouri One Start grants. Other requirements include:

Health insurance provided to full-time employees.Company is a manufacturer or engaged in inter-state commerce for more than 51 percent of its business Company employs permanent, full-time employees working an average of at least 35 hours per week.

Already, nearly 100,000 Missourians have received training through the Missouri One Start program since it was created less than two years ago, Parson said, vowing by the end of his administration, all 114 Missouri counties will be certified as “work ready communities” and be attractive draws for economic development.

In its first year since Parson created the Office of Apprenticeship and Work-Based Learning, Missouri has added 10,000 new registered apprenticeships, with 3,614 apprenticeships completed. In 2020, there were 15,189 active apprentices in 472 registered programs, involving more than 3,600 employers, in the program.

The newly created office’s goal is to grow apprenticeships and “work-based learning experiences” to 20,000 by 2025.

Parson proposes in his FY22 budget request to boost funding for the Fast Track Workforce Incentive Grant Program by $2.7 million to $5.7 million.

“Another program that is becoming increasingly popular is the Fast Track program proposed by our administration to help working-age, under-employed adults advance their skills and careers,” he said. “We are very proud that nearly 80 percent of Fast Track scholarship recipients are women, and nearly 50 percent are first-generation college students.”

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