Former Price Cutter store transformed into new MO Career Center

New facility will serve the growing needs of the unemployed in southwest Missouri

August 15, 2012|by Mike Landis, KY3 News | mlandis@ky3.com

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A building where you could once shop for food is now a place to shop for a job. The Missouri Career Center has opened its doors in the former Price Cutter store on E. Sunshine.

Ginger Bradford is one of many staff members whose job is to help others find a job.

“I am excited about it. I love it,” said Bradford, a workforce specialist at the Missouri Career Center.

Years ago, Bradford says, she was the one needing a job- and found help at the career center. Now she’s come full circle.

“I am able to help them and know exactly how they are feeling about things- and that anxiety of looking for a new job…so I am able to channel into my own past with that,” Bradford stated.

She’ll now be able to help more people than ever- part of the staff at the all new career center. The new location replaces the former facility on Glenstone Ave.

“It love it. I used to shop here and now I work here. It is awesome,” laughed Bradford.

“Our main goal was to try to get into a location where we could get a little bit lower rent, a little more space,’ explained Jaydean Miller, workforce supervisor at MO Career Center.

The space was needed for a long time, but really became a necessity when the economy tanked and unemployment rose.

“Our numbers continue to stay pretty steady, serving around 500 people a day,’ Miller stated.

This new facility is much larger and more spacious, with more computers for clients to search for jobs. There is also conference rooms that can be set up to host career fairs.

The atmosphere is also more colorful

“They [the clients] see a place that is nice; they want to take care of it. They want to feel like they are being treated with respect and not just a cold office,” explained Miller.

Even though unemployment numbers are starting to look up, the career center knows work is far from over.

“We are starting to see some new things, but we are hoping to get people off those unemployment benefits and into the workplace,” said Miller.

The new Missouri Career Center is located at 2900 E. Sunshine in the Southern Hills Shopping Center.

For more information, visit the Missouri Career Center.

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