At A Glance
Location: Branson, Missouri
FHLB Des Moines Member: Branson Bank
The Impact: Elevate Work is a workforce training program in Branson, Missouri that offers unemployed, underemployed, impoverished, and sheltered homeless individuals the opportunity to learn invaluable job skills to help them gain and retain employment. This way, when these individuals look to apply and enter the workforce, they will have the required skill set to succeed in their role which has the potential to reduce the turnover rate for local organizations within the community.
The Need: Elevate Work was created to help the Branson community overcome the need for an adequately skilled workforce. The organization believes that the current workforce is appropriate in numbers but not regarding the knowledge needed to excel within the role. This initiative reaches those individuals who look to acquire the necessary skill set to meet the needs of the workforce and improve upon their current employment status, housing situation, and healthcare opportunities.
The Results: Since the creation of Elevate Works in 2013, 216 individuals have successfully graduated from the program. Out of these individuals, the organization has observed a 70% employment rate from those who have graduated. Due to the success of the program, Elevate Works continues to add new programs, including various computer courses and is looking to add a financial literacy course in 2022.
The Key Players: Elevate Branson work with over 40 community partners to implement Elevate Work including; Cox Medical Center Branson, Price Chopper, Fritz’s Adventure, Meyer Hospitality, Nature’s Wonders, and Burrell Behavior Health.
The Full Story
In 2013, Elevate Work was formed to meet the demands of local organizations to help develop a more prepared workforce. This workforce training program looks to work with those who are unemployed, underemployed, impoverished, and those who are experiencing homelessness within the Branson area.
Through the Elevate Work program, individuals are provided the opportunity to attend various classes on how to get and retain a job, along with other soft skills, and hands-on hospitality experience. The provided courses focus specifically on what employers want and need, how to improve resume and interview skills, the opportunity to master teamwork and problem solving, along with other courses that focus to improve upon the local workforce. By providing these courses, Elevate Work is aiming to create a stronger workforce for the local economy, decrease turnover and training times for employers, decrease the number of those individuals’ experiencing homelessness, reduce the number of those uninsured, and increase food security.
Elevate Work runs in tandem with Elevate Connections case management, which gives these individuals the opportunity to overcome other obstacles that may be in their way.
This program is not only a great opportunity for those within the workforce, but it also provides the children of those in attendance similar opportunities. Elevate Work Kids is a program for children. This program provides the children in attendance with similar courses opportunities as their guardians and provides these children the groundwork for future success.
With over 216 individuals who have graduated from the program, Elevate Work has had a major impact on the community, including a 70% employed full-time rate from those who complete the program. “We have seen the impact firsthand the program has had in helping the community navigate through roadblocks and better their lives for themselves and their families,” said Uptown Café. “As a business owner, the benefits have been great in hiring employees who are hard-working, dedicated, and who want to succeed in life.”
The impact of this program is expected to be seen for years to come and the program continues to look for ways to improve upon its course load, along with adding more courses that could be beneficial in the future.