Business Notebook: Missouri's workforce growing, but still smaller than a year ago

Missouri's nonfarm workforce grew in January while the state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased by a 10th of a percentage point, according to information released last week by the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center (MERIC).

The MERIC data cited a January increase of nearly 6,000 nonfarm jobs in Missouri. However, that was not enough to make up for a loss of more than 100,000 jobs in the state during 2020.

Missouri's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in January was 4.3%, according to MERIC, down from 4.4% in December. Meanwhile, the national jobless rate in January was 6.3%.

Because of the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Missouri's unemployment rate in January was 0.7% higher than what it was in January 2020. The rate had been as low as 3.1% in July 2018 before gradually edging up to 3.5% by the end of 2019 and then climbing to 3.7% in March of last year.

But in April 2020, the first full month of the pandemic, Missouri's jobless rate spiked to 12.5%, according to MERIC data.

Missouri's monthly unemployment rate has been below the national rate for 11 consecutive months, from March 2020 through January of this year.

According to the latest report, there were 130,822 unemployed Missourians in January, down from December's 135,112.

Space remains for 2021 Project C.A.P.E.

Businesses interested in participating in this year's Project C.A.P.E. event — bringing employers, case managers and job seekers together — can still do so by contacting Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce vice president Kim Voelker.

C.A.P.E. is short for Connecting Area Partners for Employment and this year's event is set for 2 until 6 p.m. March 25 at Cape Girardeau's Shawnee Park Center.

"Many area employers tell us it's increasingly difficult to find potential candidates for employment, while agency case managers often serve clients who struggle to gain employment," Voelker said. "Bringing these entities together to have candid conversations and identify solutions to issues they each face just makes sense."

The first half of the March 25 event will include a roundtable discussion among employers and caseworkers. This will be followed by a job fair from 4 until 6 p.m.

Representatives of Legal Services of Southern Missouri will also be available to any individuals interested in having their criminal records expunged.

Missouri Job Centers transitioning from online to fully open

Beginning this week, most Missouri Job Centers will transition from "appointment-only" visits to being fully-open, with walk-ins welcome.

According to the Missouri Department of Higher Education & Workforce Development, the new policy will apply to job centers meeting three main criteria for reopening: They must be located in counties where COVID-19 positivity rates are below 8.5%, they must have adequate staffing to provide services and they must be able to meet guidelines contained in the department's internal infectious disease preparedness response plan.

Anyone planning to visit a job center should call ahead to make sure the city is open for walk-ins or to schedule an appointment.

All Missouri Job Centers temporarily closed in March 2020 at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. Since then, the Missouri Office of Workforce Development (OWD) has worked with job center staff to ensure all re-employment services could be delivered online or over the phone.

There are 28 job centers throughout Missouri. In Southeast Missouri, they are in Sikeston, Poplar Bluff and Kennett. For more details, including contact information for any of the job centers, visit www.jobs.mo.gov.

Schnucks announces local supplier program

Schnuck Markets Inc. announced an initiative Friday in which the St. Louis-based grocery chain plans to identify local suppliers and market their products within Schnucks stores, including the Schnucks location in Cape Girardeau, 19 S. Kingshighway.

According to a Schnucks news release, the company's merchandising staff will identify suppliers within 125 miles of a Schnucks store or in one of the four states served by Schnucks — Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.

"Our emphasis on local products connects us with the many communities throughout the area we serve and introduces our customers to local treasures that can be found right in their own backyard," said Andy DeCou, the company's deli category manager. "Our communities depend on local businesses and they depend on us to get their good into the hands of customers."

Schnucks has partnered with an online platform called RangeMe that helps coordinate the new product discovery process between suppliers and retailers.

Suppliers wishing to participate in the initiative can register or find more information online at www.app.rangeme.com/schnuckslocal21.

McDonald's offering free beverages to health care workers

More than 100 McDonald's locations in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky — including those in Cape Girardeau, Jackson, and the surrounding region — are offering free beverages to health care workers this week (through Friday) in recognition of their work over the past year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We know that during the toughest of times, we can count on our health care heroes to be there for us," said Shannon Davis, who owns and operates McDonald's restaurants in the Cape Girardeau area. "We hope through this gesture, they know we're here for them, too, and appreciate the sacrifices they make for us every day, especially over this last year."

To redeem the offer, available through the drive-through of participating McDonald's and applicable to any size and type of beverage, health care workers must show a valid employee ID badge when ordering.

T-Mobile opens new Sikeston store

The new T-Mobile store in Sikeston, Missouri.Submitted

SIKESTON, Mo. — T-Mobile has opened a new retail outlet in Sikeston as part of what the company describes as its "efforts to serve more people in small towns across America by expanding its retail footprint."

The new Sikeston location, at 211 N. Main St., is open from noon until 6 p.m. daily, except Sundays and Mondays.

Three Rivers buying building from Dexter Chamber of Commerce

DEXTER, Mo. — Three Rivers College signed an agreement last week with the Dexter Chamber of Commerce to purchase the building housing the college's Dexter campus.

According to school officials, the four-year lease-to-own agreement, which was finalized Tuesday, provides the college with a permanent Dexter location as well as room for growth.

The building at 515 W. Market St. is owned by Dexter Chamber of Commerce Development Inc. Three Rivers currently occupies about 19,600 of the 62,400 square feet available in the structure.

In a news release about the building acquisition, Three Rivers said the college's Dexter campus offers a variety of classes, including several programs that can be competed without commuting to the TRC campus in Poplar Bluff, including behavioral health support, general education, process and controls engineering and technology, medical billing and coding, and welding.

People News

Jill Irvin

Cape Girardeau County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Jill Irvin has been appointed to the Missouri Child Abuse and Neglect Review Board by Gov. Mike Parson. Her appointment was announced Friday.

Before joining the prosecuting attorney's office, Irvin served as special counsel for the governor's office.

Irvin graduated from Southeast Missouri State University with a degree in mass communications and earned her law degree at the University of Tennessee College of Law.

She is a member of the Young Lawyers' Section of the Missouri Bar Association, the Leopold R-III School District Foundation, the University of Tennessee Young Alumni Council and Cape West Rotary.

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Melissa Jordan

Nurse practitioner Melissa Jordan has joined the primary care staff of EBO MD in Fredericktown, Missouri.

Jordan earned her Bachelor of Science in nursing from Central Methodist University in Fayette, Missouri, and her master's degree from Maryville University in St. Louis. She completed a clinical rotation in family practice and pediatrics at Madison Medical Center in Fredericktown and a clinical rotation in women's health at Bloomsdale Women's Clinic in Bloomsdale, Missouri.

Thanks to advanced nursing training, nurse practitioners are able to diagnose and treat illnesses and injuries, order lab work and imaging tests, and write prescriptions. They also help manage health conditions, provide health education, and assist patients with disease prevention.

EBO MD has offices in Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Fredericktown. More information is available by calling (573) 561-5051 or online at www.doyouebo.com.

Chamber Notes

The Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce will host a ribbon-cutting at 2 p.m. Thursday at Shawnee Park Center, 835 S. West End Blvd., to celebrate installation of the Cape Girardeau Public Library's LitLocker system. LitLocker is a remote access system that allows users to pick up and return library materials.

Thursday's event was originally scheduled for several months ago, but was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce will host its March membership breakfast starting at 7:30 a.m. Friday at the Jackson Civic Center. Seating is limited because of social distancing guidelines, and individual reservations are required with no more than two people in attendance from each member organization.

Reservations may be made through the Jackson chamber website, www.jacksonmochamber.org.

Face masks are required at the Jackson Civic Center.

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A ribbon cutting will be hosted by the Jackson chamber at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Jessica Slater, Bethany Byrd & Associates, 125 E. Main St. Social distancing will be encouraged.

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The Cape Girardeau chamber will host an online version of its Chamber 101 member orientation program from 1:30 until 2:30 p.m. March 22.

Participants in the interactive Zoom session will learn how to maximize their chamber membership, meet chamber ambassadors, staff and representatives from VisitCape and Cape Girardeau Area Magnet, and will have an opportunity to share information about themselves and their businesses.

The event is free of charge, but participants are asked to register in advance through the events section of the chamber's website, www.capechamber.com.

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Team registrations are being accepted for the Jackson chamber's 29th annual golf scramble scheduled for April 30 at Bent Creek Golf Course. Sponsorships are also available.

The day will begin with lunch at 11 a.m. followed by a noon tee time.

To register or for more details, call the chamber office at (573) 243-8131.

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