Unlock Your Potential This Summer

Earn While You Learn: Youth Employment Opportunities

You May be Eligible to Earn over $4500 this Summer and Make Your Future Even Brighter!

Earn $15/Hr

PT/FT Available

(Up To 320 Hrs)

Supportive Services Available

Youth (Ages 16-24)

Do one of the following barriers apply to you?

High School Dropout

Basic Skills Deficient

Pregnant or Parenting

Homeless or Runaway

In or Aged out of Foster Care

Justice-Involved

Documented Disability

English Language Learner

Receiving TANF or SNAP

Low Income

EMPLOYERS

As an employer, you have a heavy responsibility in running your business, maintaining various aspects of the day-in and day-out operations. Sometimes finding that ideal team member to invest in the growth of your business can’t always be your top priority.

We can match youth, ages 16-24, with employers like yourself, in order to remove your barriers to productivity and their barriers to the start of a successful career.

How Does it Work?

1

Our Career Managers work one-on-one with clients to understand their goals and remove any barriers which would keep them from success.

2

We then work hard to match our clients to a career pathway that will not only remove their employment barrier, but put them on the road to a future of doing something they actually enjoy.

3

Through our work experience and on-the-job training programs, you get a team member who’s ready to work and invest in your business, we cover their wages and workman’s compensation, and they not only get a paycheck, but a peace of mind that what they do matters.

If you’re ready to build a better future for your business while helping the Youth of Missouri build a better future for themselves, we want to help make that happen! 

What is WIOA?

WIOA Youth is a federally funded program built to empower youth and foster a modern workforce. WIOA Youth is for individuals between the ages of 14-24 years of age, and assists with a variety of barriers. The purpose of WIOA Youth is to help our youth, our future, to overcome barriers that hinder them from being successful. WIOA Youth program is in place to encourage responsibility, accountability, and self-sufficiency.

Follow The Central Region on Social Media

Central Region News

A Move, a Job Search, and a New Chapter in Social Work for Antoinette Agosto

After a resume review at the Columbia Job Center, Antoinette Agosto used JVSG services to land a full-time social worker role with Good Shepherd Hospice in under a month.

A Janitorial Job Was All Jillian Knew. A Preschool Classroom Showed Her What She Wanted

high school senior with only janitorial work behind her, Jillian Boyles used the WIOA In-School Youth program to test a career in childcare, and turned a paid Work Experience at Tiger Tots into a real job.

A GED Wasn’t in Her Past. A Classroom Full of Kids Is Now Her Future. (Hannah’s Success Story)

Ashley built a career as a Certified Medical Assistant, then decided to go further. With support from WIOA Adult, EDA, and Healthy Blue, she earned her nursing degree and RN license, and now earns nearly $12 more per hour.

Missouri Education Agencies Partner with Google to Provide Free AI Training

Missouri is partnering with Google to expand free access to AI training, Google Career Certificates and education tools for job seekers, students and educators across the state.

A Move, a Job Search, and a New Chapter in Social Work for Antoinette Agosto

When veteran Eddie Agosto walked into the Columbia Job Center looking for direction, he found more than a resume review. Through the Jobs for Veterans State Grant program, he landed a role that puts his social work background to meaningful use.

Missouri Jobs Report: July 2026 — Nearly 30,000 Jobs Added Year-Over-Year as Unemployment Falls to 3.6%

Missouri added 8,100 jobs in July 2026, unemployment fell to 3.6 percent, and year-over-year job growth reached nearly 30,000 positions. Here’s a breakdown of the latest labor market data and what it means for workers and employers across mid-Missouri.

What Students Can Teach Us About Showing Up

Every August, students walk into buildings they have never been in before and agree to spend months learning things they do not yet understand. What if the rest of us did the same? Here is what students can teach us about showing up.

A Certified Medical Assistant, Ashley Wanted More. Nursing School Delivered It

Ashley built a career as a Certified Medical Assistant, then decided to go further. With support from WIOA Adult, EDA, and Healthy Blue, she earned her nursing degree and RN license, and now earns nearly $12 more per hour.

Keeoctea Hightower Wanted a Fresh Start. The Central Region Job Center Helped Her Find One

Veteran Keeoctea Hightower came to the Columbia Job Center for resume help and career guidance. With support from Wagner-Peyser and JVSG services, she landed full-time employment at a VA hospital.

Central Region Joins Local Partners At Lebanon Summer Outreach Event

Free community resources came together at the Lebanon YMCA this summer, with the Central Workforce Development Region on hand to connect attendees with job seeker services.

Tune into the podcast

The Workforce Link Podcast with Sundi Jo Graham

The Workforce Link Podcast offers forward thinking conversations for the workforce, linking employers and job seekers to a brighter tomorrow. 

Hosted by Sundi Jo Graham from the Central Workforce Development Board, The Workforce Link covers job searching, resume and interview tips, leadership, personal development, and features interviews with industry leaders from the private and public sectors.

1107 Kingshighway, Rolla, MO 65401

(573) 426-6030

In accordance with 29 CFR 38.9 (g)(3), Limited English Proficient (LEP) individuals will receive language assistance in all communications of vital information.

l

EO Officer - Korin Thurman

Click here to contact.

Translate »