Your Clay County EDC has organized a transportation summit to be held at the Yates-Gill Union 221-222 on the campus of William Jewell College (northwest corner of the quad) in Liberty for Monday, November 22nd from 2-3 PM. Congressman Sam Graves, the Ranking Member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, has agreed to attend. Also on the panel will be MoDOT’s Director Patrick McKenna. Rounding out the panel will be Ron Achelpohl the Director of Transportation and Environment for the Mid America Regional Council, Jerry Nolte the Presiding Commissioner of Clay County who serves on both the MARC Board and Total Transportation Policy Committee and Valerie McCaw the President of VSM Engineering who will present the Northland’s priority list.
Please hold the date for December 15th as we will have our Keystone Awards luncheon.
The next Northland Education and Business Alliance career speaker series is this Tuesday. Hear from experts in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics and Architecture and Construction fields. You will need to register in advance here.
During our monthly call with Governor Parson he requested that we share the way his administration has reshaped economic and work force development. In September 2021, Missouri’s unemployment rate fell to 3.8 percent from a high of 12.5 percent during the COVID-19 pandemic. Missouri’s unemployment rate prior to the pandemic was 3.7 percent. Only 15,000 Missourians are currently drawing unemployment benefits, down from 124,000 at the beginning of 2021 and 385,000 in 2020 at the height of the pandemic. Our United States ranking is 1st for on-the-job training participants, 3rd for apprenticeships, pandemic proof small businesses and business tax index (outranking all of our neighboring states) 4th for opportunity, new manufacturing facilities and the best place to retire, 5th in the low cost of doing business, 7th for people relocating to the state and tech manufacturing growth, 8th in housing affordability (we’ll share this when we testify against any new construction linkage fees), economic recovery and the best place to work for nurses, 9th for military retirees and tech hubs, 10th for automotive and aerospace industries, new business expansion, women in tech and site selection, 11th for business environment and defense spending and 12th for the best overall tax climate.
Please join us for a ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house celebrating the new home of The Story Center at Mid-Continent Public Library on Friday, November 19th. This event marks a new chapter for the historic home on the Woodneath Library Center campus, which will serve as a regional center for storytelling. This special project was made possible by the generous donations of local foundations, civic partners, businesses, and community members. There is a ribbon cutting at 4:00 with the open house running from 4:30-6:30. The Woodneath Library Center is located at 8900 NE Flintlock Road, Kansas City, MO 64157. No registration is required. For more information or to request accommodations, please contact Diana Reiter at 816-521-7260 or dreiter@mymcpl.org.
The Northland CAPS program is looking for possible opportunities for their student associates for Spring 2022. Internship experience will take place during normal Northland CAPS class time, 7:30 am – 10:00 am (some AM companies have an 8:00 am start time due to the starting time for their company) for AM associates and 12:00 pm – 2:30 pm for PM associates. These will be unpaid internships for the spring semester. Northland CAPS internships meet IRS guidelines for unpaid internships. Fifty percent of these unpaid internships have been converted to paid opportunities with companies, proving to be a powerful tool in workforce development. These opportunities for Spring 2022 would be from January 18th – May 6th, Tuesday – Friday each week, all students report back to their classrooms on Mondays. We post all available positions by late October, so students can apply in early November and interview with companies in December. These opportunities would be in-person with businesses at their site, students provide their own transportation to locations. If you would like to offer an opportunity just complete this request: www.northlandcaps.org/internshipand they will follow up with you on next steps.
The Mid-Continent Public Library has upcoming Square One classes for Scaling Your Business – Program Options in KCNovember 17th.
Your EDC wants to make sure you know of the great resources provided by our state that address job seekers, employers and our community. The information provided at https://jobs.mo.gov/is both relevant and timely. You can also reach them at 1-888-728-JOBS (5627).
Are you tired of having to get permission to hunt on someone else’s land? Want some acreage and a hunting lodge or event center near Chillicothe? Your EDC is working with Whitetail Properties to sell a piece of property that currently belongs to us. Take a look here.
Did you know that your EDC provides small business loans through our partnership with Midwest Small Business Financing? We want to put your business into buildings and purchase the required fixed assets. Our rates include the Small Business Administration fees and are currently 3.245% for ten years, 3.483% for 20 years and 3.601 for 25 years. Please contact us with any questions. You can read about upcoming SBA trainings and get more information about the SBA’s Resource Partner Training here.
Your EDC helps to sponsor weekly educational programs designed to engage, educate and accelerate communities of entrepreneurs and small business owners. Hosted in-person by iWerx, 1520 Clay Street, North Kansas City, MO 64116, Coffee Connect starts at 7:45 and the program begins at 8. To sign up or for more information click here.
Your EDC’s Friday Facts is your go-to read to see what is happening in our County. We want you to see Clay County while spending your disposable income right here:
Tonight Monster Jam Thunder Alley through November 21 at Worlds of Fun
This weekend Liberty North High School presents Mamma Mia November 11-13th
This weekend Oak Park High School presents Bring It OnNovember 11-13th
This weekend North Kansas City High School presents THE WIZ – November 12 – 13
This weekend Excelsior Springs’ Second Weekend November 12-14
This weekend Mid-Continent Public Library has five special engagement performances by Gerald Dickens November 12-14
Tomorrow Smithville Main Street District’s Wine Walk November 13th 3-7
This week Kearney High School presents Cinderella November 16-20
This week Liberty High School presents Oklahoma November 18-20th
This week Brighton Beach Memoirs at the Corbin Theatre November 18-21
Winnetonka High School presents SUESSICAL THE MUSICAL – November 19 – 20
Staley High School presents GREASE – November 19 – 20
Level Up Kids 20th anniversary open house November 19th 8-10AM 5416 NE Antioch Rd.
North Kansas City Mayor’s Christmas Tree Lighting November 19th 6-8
North Kansas City Business Council’s BIG EventDecember 2nd 5:30-7:30
Smithville’s Candyland Christmas December 4th noon – 5:30
Click on the school of your choice to see their calendar of events. Excelsior Springs, Kearney, Smithville, Liberty, Liberty North, North Kansas City, Winnetonka, Oak Park, Staley, St. Pius, Kansas City Christian and Platte County R-3 (yes, part of their district is in Clay County).
The Northland Education and Business Alliance now has its own YouTube channel. This organization just continues to grow and get things right and your EDC is proud to be a part of it. Feel free to view the dozens of videos from various career opportunities right here in Clay County.
