Springfield Business Journal_2021-06-14

by Emily Cole · ecole@sbj.net Take a look around any commercial area of Springfield, and the prevalence of businesses seeking more staff will be immediately ap- parent. “There’s a lot of noise in the marketplace,” said Penmac Staffing Ser- vices Inc. CEO Tim Massey. “You can’t drive 100 yards without seeing a help wanted ad.” In May, U.S. employers added 559,000 jobs, according to a report from the U.S. Depart- ment of Labor. On the last business day in April, the job openings level increased to 9.3 million – the highest rate yet since the depart- ment began measuring it in December 2000. Meanwhile, the number of hires remained at 6.1 million. The issue isn’t completely a lack of poten- tial workers, Massey said, but an impact from the COVID-19 pandemic that has impacted job seekers’ choices, acceptable wages and willingness to work. “It’s very competitive, and companies have to understand that the wages they paid even six months ago may not be competitive enough to work in the market- place,” Massey said. Being understaffed has been hard enough at Neighbor’s Mill Bak- ery & Cafe that owners Clif and Lauren Brown made the decision to cut their evening hours for a full two weeks at the restaurant’s Inde- pendence Street location. The couple announced the decision on the restaurant’s Facebook page on June 2, and the partial closure lasted until June 14. “Every week was like, ‘We’re still under- staffed, there’s still no good applicants, we’re still working long hours,’” Lauren Brown said. “Then every week, we’d be like ‘Why would we expect anything to change this week when we haven’t done anything to make it change?’” Finding a balance Neighbor’s Mill has been contending with a staff shortagefor months, and Brown said the pandemic was a big catalyst. “Before the pandemic began, we were kind of always hiring at the same rate, or even faster, then what we were losing people at. There’s always turnover in the restaurant industry, even if it’s a great work by Mike Cullinan · mcullinan@sbj.net As warmer weather arrives and CO VID-19 restric- tions are loosening, people are expected to hit the road for summer vacations. However, a shortage of tanker truck drivers to deliver gas to sta- tions could cause supply and pricing issues, industry experts say. “Everybody’s looking for drivers,” said Tom Crawford, president and CEO of the Missouri Trucking Association. “I don’t know that our story on that has changed for the last seven or eight years for sure.” The U.S. trucking industry will need to hire roughly 1.1 million new drivers over the next 10 years – an average of 110,000 per year – to offset demand, according to the American Trucking Associations. “Gas pricing has highlighted a segment of the driver shortage, but it’s not confined to the segment,” Crawford said, noting that includes flat bed and tanker drivers. As the unofficial start of summer kicked off with the Memorial Day weekend, demand for gas is only expected to grow throughout the season, officials say. It’s in stark contrast to last year at this time when people were stay- ing close to home amid the pandemic. Price issues Gas prices have increased dramatically from a year prior. According to AAA, the na- tional gas price average reached $3.06, as of June 9. That’s up 50% from a year ago. Prices statewide and in the Springfield area both are lower than the national average, at $2.75 and $2.83, respectively, but have still risen considerably. Eric Wilmoth, vice president of Mount Vernon-based trucking company Ozarks Petroleum Transport Inc., said the gas price increase from last year is no surprise. How- ever, it’s more than he anticipated. “If you asked me a year ago, I’d say we’ll be just $2.00 · SBJ.NET JUNE 14-20, 2021 · VOL. 41, NO. 47 40 YEARS • YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY Truck driver shortage could impact gas prices Hiring challenges persist in Springfield Industry expects higher fuel demand to maintain throughout the year Pandemic alters job seeker priorities MCKENZIE ROBINSON See GAS on page 19 Tim Massey: Wages paid six months ago may no longer be competitive. Lauren Brown prioritized staff over regular business hours. See HIRING on page 24 Tom Crawford: The truck driver shortage isn’t confined to a single industry segment. ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT A unique partnership aims to spread fiber-optic interne t acc ess throughout Springfiel d by late 2022. PAGE 9 FUELING UP Gas prices are rising nationally and truck driver shortages may cause supply issues this year, according to industry officials.