Group expands on workforce development

The Taney County Partnership has been focused on workforce development and establishing ways to meet the current supply and demand market in Taney County.

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Executive Director Jonas Arjes presented an update on the organization as a whole. Currently, the partnership has 40 members including 10 public sector partners and 30 business sector partners.

New businesses joining this year are Paragon Architecture, Carson-Mitchell, and Esterly Schneider Architects, Arjes said.

Eight new projects have been announced this year by area businesses, whereas last year there were four projects, according to Arjes. He reported that new jobs created this year is more than 225, which is 165 more than last year.

New capital investment this year consists of $61 million, which is about $43 million more than last year. Current active projects for this year are 20, versus 19 last year. Total new projects this year include 16 versus 13 last year.

Projects in Taney County for this year include Big Foot on the Strip, Branson Ferris Wheel, Mountain Adventure Resort, Hollister Farm to Table, The Alley, Mercy, BKG Air Service and Alpha, according to Arjes.

“We continue to see an increase in activity, not only in projects, but also inquires, and those interested parties looking to learning more about this market and Taney County as a whole.” Arjes said.

The partnership has been focusing on workforce development and a Workforce Development Collaborative group started meeting earlier this year. Arjes said the purpose of the group is to bring together service providers, educational institutions, community stakeholders and employers. One issue the group has been discussing is the lack of supply and demand.

Arjes said there are “not enough workers for the amount of open positions that we have within the market.”

Ways to address this issue include updating taneycountypartnership.com, and implementing a new website, onpointmo.com.

The OnPoint website is a “job listing website that we are allowing not only Taney County, but also Stone County, employers to utilize to post their openings and to get help with many things such as job descriptions, they can highlight their openings with more information,” Arjes said.

Some other ways of addressing workforce development include a collaborative logo with the Branson/Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce, a talent attraction video, school programs and employer engagement programs according to Arjes.

For more information about the Taney County Partnership, visit taneycountypartnership.com.