Springfield Business Journal_2020-09-28

(417) 886-1330 www.regent.bank Secure Additional FDIC Insurance Up to $125,000,000 * Stop worrying & earn excellent rates while keeping your money liquid. *Maximimum FDIC Insurance is $250,000, but using the ICS® network we are able to help clients secure additional FDIC coverage of up to $125,000,000. Member FDIC Equal Housing Lender ©2020 Regent Bank | www.regent.bank Proud to partner with Ozarks Technical Community College Call Rich Today! New OTC campus in Republic OTC Republic Campus impactful and perhaps transformative ex- perience.” Pratt said MSU has hosted the Facing Racism Institute since 2016 and generally has sessions in the fall and spring semesters. The October program will be the first held in 2020. A one-day session planned as part of the eighth annual Collaborative Diversity Conference didn’t take place in April, due to COVID-19 concerns. The three-day conference, which high- lights best practices in diversity and inclu- sion in business, community relations, higher education and public service, is expected to return in 2021. However, Pratt said he expects it will be a hy- brid or all-virtual event. “This will be the first oppor- tunity we have to look at how effective it’s going to be in a virtual context,” he said of next month’s institute.  Learning opportunity Sutton Berry, product pro- gram manager at John Deere Reman, said he’s among nine registrants for the event from the Springfield-based company. Reg- istration fees for non-MSU employees are $400 per person. Employees from its Springfield and Alberta, Canada, plants will participate. While personal interac- tion won’t be possible for virtual program attendees, he said several of the Springfield workers will be in a factory conference room during the event, which spans eight hours each day. “This learning opportunity supports our commitment to diversity and inclusion at John Deere,” Berry said via email. “Through increased awareness and education, our hope for our employees is to gain a better understanding on racism and the impact it has on individuals, businesses and our com- munity.” The program generates discussions on subjects such as implicit bias, an unconscious attitude or stereo- typing of people, Pratt said.  “Implicit bias is still very pervasive today and perhaps even more so in light of events over the summer,” he said, ref- erencing, in part, the nation- wide racial justice protests that followed the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Springfield City Manager Ja- son Gage said Floyd’s death and subsequent public outcry influenced his de- sire to have the city contract with MSU for a private Facing Racism Institute session this summer. The city spent $4,000 for the pro- gram, which he said is part of its employees’ professional development. “We had about 25 people go through it and that’s pretty close to a full class,” he said. “It was not modified for our group. It was the same class. Quite honestly, we felt it was inexpensive for that level of training.” Gage first attended the program last year and was impressed with the depth of its dive into racism’s history. “It allows the attendee to connect the dots from the past of a time of forced slavery to a time of freedom without opportunity, with- out education and without respect,” he said. “Then finally it goes to a time of change in federal and state laws in the 1960s to today.” The program also covers interactions with people of different colors, genders and cultures, he said, helping teach how to be sensi- tive and not let internal bias af- fect decision making.  Addressing issues Pratt said racism has long been a subject people are un- comfortable discussing in and out of the workplace.  “If they were comfortable with dealing with it and ad- dressing it, we’d be a lot further along in this nation than we are now,” he said. “In this particular area, it’s about try- ing to become more aware, to become more knowledgeable and then develop the skills to negotiate our cross-cultural differences that may exist in order to have a much more beneficial or effective work site.” Research demonstrates valuing the inclu- sion of diversity in the workplace improves the bottom line, Pratt said.  According to a 2016 study by Washington, D.C.-based research firm Peterson Institute for International Economics, companies with 30% of its leaders being female earn 6% more in profits compared with those without female leadership. New York-based management consulting firm McKinsey & Co. said in a 2015 study that companies in the top quartile for racial and ethnic diversity are 35% more likely to have financial returns above their respec- tive national industry medians. Diversity also is being addressed on the city of Springfield’s staff this year. At its Sept. 21 meeting, City Council approved Gage’s request to add a direc- tor of diversity and inclusion for this fiscal year. A new hire is slated be made before year’s end.  It’s a move similar to Drury University and Springfield Public Schools, which each added a staff member in 2019 to address diversity and inclusion.  “As we start to think broader about understanding differ- ences, being more welcoming, recruitment efforts and de- velopment efforts, and how we interact in our community, it didn’t take long for me to realize we need some more horsepower in our organization,” Gage said. “We just re- ally don’t have someone that has that type of training that can help us. “We need someone who can bring in that knowledge, experience and ability to work with people.” 42 · SBJ.NET SEPT. 28-OCT. 4, 2020 FROM THE COVER W h o ’ s W h o i n b u s i n e s s Institute: City invested $4K for private training this summer Continued from page 1 Jason Gage : The city is adding a director of diversity and inclusion to its staff. Sutton Berry : The program is a learning opportunity for John Deere Reman.