Summary: The City of Springfield is trying to fill the workforce shortage in the Ozarks, and some professionals say part of the solution is one specific group of people. "We have employers that are looking for employees all the time and what we're sharing with them is an untapped workforce that is very skilled," said Carmen May, the career services supervisor at the Missouri Job Center. May talked to Jenifer Abreu about how employers can learn about hiring people out of prison or with past legal issues, how this is already happening, and how it can benefit the community and the economy. The Missouri Job Center is hosting a panel coming up on Wednesday, July 31 at 8 a.m. The goal of the panel is to connect businesses and hiring managers with individuals involved with the justice system, who are coming out of prison or jail and trying to get back into the workforce. May says the APPLIE program, a six-week program to train and prepare inmates for work after release, has been successful in its first year at the Ozarks Correctional Center. It's had a 70-percent placement rate.
