KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Edie Hancock proudly wears the title of Maintenance Worker for the Missouri Department of Transportation, but it’s not a job this former medical sales woman ever dreamed she would hold.
"I was laid off," said Edie. "I always worked in "corporate America", but after sending out a hundred plus resumes and not getting the calls I expected with my experience, I had to consider something else."
Edie heard about an opportunity with MoDOT while attending church at Concord Fortress in Kansas City. Her congregation was one of three metro churches that agreed to offer free Commercial Drivers License exam trainings to anyone interested in earning their CDL. Together with MoDOT, the churches named their program, A Call to Oneness.
"At MoDOT we want to attract the best employees. And to work in many of our jobs you must have a high school diploma and pass the written CDL test," explained Belinda Fite, Human Resources Manager. "So we began with the idea of helping individuals get the training to take the written exam, but it has grown beyond that. This partnership is about training individuals for a wide variety of transportation careers. It's about reaching out and being an engaged partner in our community."
While MoDOT won’t hire everyone who went through the workshops, they will be hiring a lot of people. MoDOT has received $90 million in stimulus funds to build roads and bridges. The money should create 3,000 jobs.
"These are construction jobs, carpenters, iron workers cement finishers and those type of things," said Linda Clark, Assistant District Engineer, "We’ll need laborers and electricians, basically anyone who would work on a large construction project."
Clark said there will more opportunities down the road, too, as development springs up around the new and improved construction. Clark pointed to the trickle-down economics of jobs being created to fill construction supply needs.
"These will be good paying jobs," continued Clark. "There’s paint, block, cement, rebar…materials and suppliers and that kind of stuff. The stuff you need when laying several thousand cubic yards of pavement."
It’s what’s down the road that attracted Hancock to MoDOT.
"I’m relieved to be employed by a stable organization," smiled Hancock, "and I’m looking to grow with the company and hopefully rise in the ranks."
Opening a New Door at the Ground Floor
Another new MoDOT employee who earned his CDL through A Call to Oneness shares the same hope. Daniel Walker who once worked for a non-profit organization. Now, he inspects road signs for MoDOT.
“I was out of work for two months,” explained Walker, who holds a degree in business marketing. "I was sitting at home not getting paid and just trying to find things to do with idle time. That, I didn’t like, so it’s a real blessing that I was able to stumble upon this position."
Walker originally applied at MoDOT for a clerical job, but the Human Resources worker thought he had the skills to climb the ladder if he got in on the ground floor of the community retraining program. Daniel took advantage of CDL classes being taught at another church location. He went to the training and passed his test two days later. Although grateful for the job, Daniel is in it for the opportunities ahead.
"I don’t see myself staying in this department. It gets my foot in the door for another position, a higher pay grade. You know we all look for that," smiled Walker.
MoDOT engineers say there are plenty of opportunities ahead with the government stimulus money. Missouri will hire an estimated 21,000 workers statewide. In the metro, the construction projects are lining up and the hiring is still underway.
"One of the biggest jobs ahead is the major interchange at I-435 and I-70 which is in the heart of the urban area," listed Clark. "In Clay County, we’re putting in sidewalks along route one. Smithville is slated for sidewalks, too. There’s a widening project on the books for 150(highway) from 71(highway) to 291 (highway). And, the Heart of America Bridge rehabilitation that calls for a dual use path on the northbound side of the bridge."
There is other stimulus money available in both Missouri and Kansas for job retraining, college and to create jobs. Click on your state to learn more.
