Springfield Business Journal_2019-03-18

SPRINGFIELD BUSINESS JOURNAL · 53 MARCH 18-24, 2019 NEWS E arlier this month, I had the opportu- nity to visit the maximum-security prison in Jefferson City. To my surprise, I witnessed the de- velopment of job skills and training in the trades for individuals exiting the prison system within the next year or so. Get this: The warden said they are closing one of the prisons because of successful programs that are giving inmates the op- portunity to learn a trade while incarcerated. This experience reminded me of my prior em- ployment when I was a project director in Balti- more for privatized child support. One of our performance measures was to in- crease payments of child support for noncustodi- al parents who had not paid support in over a year. At that time, 2006- 07, the unemployment rate was high and most of our noncustodial parents were incarcer- ated, on probation/pay- roll or were considered ex-offenders. We set up community workshops to identify barriers to employment and connected the noncustodial par- ents to nonprofit organizations to address barriers that kept them from paying child support. We discovered a large number in the thousands of noncustodial parents who wanted to work or want- ed a better paying job but were not given the oppor- tunity because of past offensives. Then, we learned about the Federal Bonding Program established through the U. S. Department of Labor in 1966. The program was designed to empower employ- ers to view ex-offenders and other at-risk job ap- plicants as potential employees. Federal bonding was one way an employer could be protected. Employers received the bonds free of charge as an incen- tive to hire at-risk job seekers. The bond is designed to reimburse the em- ployer for any loss due to employment theft of money or property with no deductible amount to become the employer’s li- ability. We were able to exceed our performance measures by partnering with employers who par- ticipated in the Federal Bonding Program. In Missouri, the state Department of Correc- tions re-entry process utilizes the Federal Bonding Program and the Work Opportunity Tax Credit. The bonding program covers any type of stealing, theft, embezzlement, forgery or larceny. It is not a bail bond, court bond or self-employment bond. It is designed for employers to feel more comfort- able in hiring at-risk job seekers for gainful em- ployment. At-risk job seekers include ex-offenders, recovering substance abusers, persons with poor fi- nancial credit, economically disadvantaged youth and adults who lack work history, dishonorable dis- charged military personnel and others. The bonds are issued instantly, effective on the date an applicant is scheduled to start work. For more information, contact the Missouri De- partment of Economic Development, Division of Workforce Development or the local Missouri Job Center, in Springfield, Branson or Monett. The Work Opportunity Tax Credit is available to employers who hire individuals with significant barriers to employment. This includes ex-felons, those in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Fam- ilies program or receiving food stamps, veterans, vocational rehabilitation referrals, supplemental Social Security recipients and summer youth pro- grams. For more information, visit DOLETA.gov. With the low unemployment rate, most recently reported at 3.2 percent statewide in January, these could be two ways to fill vacant positions and give someone a fresh start. Francine Pratt is director of Prosper Springfield, a poverty reduction initiative led by Community Partnership of the Ozarks and United Way of the Ozarks. She can be reached at fpratt@cpozarks.org. OPINION Car Chase A tale of a chance encounter – and a new ride-hailing service Federal bonding is safety net for hiring at-risk staff A mid the day-to-day minutia, it can be difficult to see the forest for the trees. The same is true at Springfield Busi- ness Journal, where the impact of the articles published isn’t always immedi- ately known. How much does writing about a company influ- ence its business dealings and the greater economy as a whole? It’s tough to quantify, and while my job is to report factually and impartially about business news, sometimes we see the direct impact. One example came recently, when Cape Gi- rardeau-based carGO Technologies LLC, a rival to the likes of Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and Postmates, announced plans to enter the Springfield market. My experience with carGO started as a chance encounter. On a trip to Cape Girardeau last spring, I found that not only did carGO exist, but also it was thriv- ing and beating its cash-flush, ride-hailing rivals at their own game. So much so, that Uber and Lyft were basically nonexistent in the market. I returned home and penned a column about the experience in July 2018 – “In SEMO, alternate app trumps Uber, Lyft” – pointing to the company’s ability to compete against multibillion-dollar com- petitors and use technology, such as search engine optimization, in its favor. That fall, I was contacted by an executive of the company, who wanted to meet after reading my col- umn. He was headed to Springfield anyway on what turned out to be a fact-finding mission on the valid- ity of the business in this market. Fast forward to this year, and carGO southwest Missouri President Dave Coble reached out with embargoed information that the company indeed was coming to Springfield. My column, he said, was a factor in the decision. I suspect it was mi- nor, as carGO already had been eyeing the southwest Missouri area. But the timeline of events was truly unique to my nearly nine years at SBJ. Most importantly, Springfieldians will have another choice. Capital- ism works best when that’s the case, and I look for- ward to seeing the results of carGO’s market entry. In Cape Girardeau, it’s like the Springfield Car- dinals beating the New York Yankees, to use a base- ball analogy. Will the same thing happen here? Uber, Lyft and delivery firms like DoorDash have a head start. Also, it’s worth noting a would-be competitor in local food delivery service QuikDine. com shut down Jan. 4, but its rival, Springfield- based Lightning Delivery, continues to operate. For carGO, if the service is comparable and the prices similar, Springfield residents may be per- suaded to choose the company with people on the ground. It will be interesting to see the food de- livery dynamic play out with Lightning Delivery, which of course has an established local footprint. April 1 is the planned launch date for carGO, which offers rides and delivery of food, alcohol and small packages through customers’ smartphones. A key differentiator, says Coble, is a team of local cus- tomer service agents working out of office space in downtown’s Wilhoit Plaza. “We have customer service here in Spring- field that’s live and watching every aspect of the delivery through the app,” he told me for a breaking news article SBJ published March 11. Since launching in 2017, the company has expanded into Poplar Bluff and southern Illinois and completed nearly 200,000 deliveries and rides, according to materials provided by the company. Time will tell in Springfield, but I think it’s got a chance. Springfield Business Journal Web Producer Geoff Pickle can be reached at gpickle@sbj.net. Send letters and comments to sbj@sbj.net PROSPERITY CHECKPOINTS Francine Pratt With the low unemployment rate, federal bonding and workforce tax credits are ways to fill vacant positions and give someone a fresh start. FROM THE WEB Geoff Pickle While my job is to report factually and impartially about business news, sometimes we see the direct impact.