Workforce Development

Black women make up the fastest-growing group of entrepreneurs, but their motivations to be their own boss stem from systemic racism and misogyny in corporate America.

Around 14% of all staff positions at hospitals were vacant in 2023, a rate that’s lower than it was at the height of the pandemic but still higher than in 2019.

“Many employers have a requirement for a four-year degree, but slowly and surely they’re realizing a four-year degree doesn’t mean everyone that comes out has the skills and ability to do the role,” said one leader of a tech training organization.

The center will enhance established regional sectors like aerospace, geospatial and biosciences, with its capacity to develop and prototype new ways of manufacturing, as well as provide a local workforce that understands those new techniques.

Lincoln University in Jefferson City and Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla are two of the 33 campuses nationwide that will be part of a $262 million effort to recruit and train the next generation of agriculture workers.

A St. Louis Community College report found the region gained almost 80,000 workers over the past 10 years.

Companies can claim a tax credit of $1,500 for each new paid intern or paid apprentice they hire up to $9,000.

“If you want to attract economic development to the area, one of the selling points is that we have talent for you to bring whatever your respective business, industry here,” one expert said.

Over the next five days more than 40 events at dozens of venues in both Missouri and Illinois will cover sectors like ag tech, geospatial, extended reality, robotics and others.

The roughly 3,100 people who work for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency in St. Louis will likely start moving into new space in late 2025, with that move completed in early 2026.