KSHB 41 reporter Ryan Gamboa covers Miami County in Kansas and Cass County in Missouri. He also covers agricultural topics. This story was made possible through connections grown in the community. Ryan is dedicated to sharing stories around Cass County's growing communities. If you have a story to share, please reach out. Share your story idea with Ryan.
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The Cass County Career Center in Harrisonville is working to feed potential employment candidates to local business partners.
Only 58% of the Cass County workforce can find a job locally, according to Mid America Regional Council data.
"If I didn’t start at the Career Center and then move to here, I’d probably still be serving and waiting tables," said Zoe German.
It's her first month on the job at the Cass County Sheriff's Office as a jail deputy.
She was the department's first intern in its partnership with the career center.
"My dad really pushed me to do it [internship at CCSO], so I thought, well, I might as well give it a go," she explained.
Zoe's father is a Captain in the Raymore Police Department and has been with the agency for 15 years. He knows a thing or two about law enforcement.
"As a parent, I wanted to make sure that this program is quality," he told KSHB 41. "Her following in my footsteps for her career is fantastic, and she was very motivated and driven when she made that decision."
Captain German explained that he took the initiative to meet with the Career Center's Criminal Justice program instructor, including the Sheriff.
"I talked to Officer Kelly, and after a brief time with her, I knew right away this was going to be an outstanding program," he said.
Retired Olathe Police Officer Chandra Kelly is leading the charge for the law enforcement academy program for 11th and 12th-grade high school students. She was also Zoe German's instructor.
The Cass Career Center, located adjacent to the Harrisonville High School campus, offers 11 different trades, including adult education:
- Agriculture
- Automotive technology
- Construction technology
- Criminal justice/Crime scene investigation
- EMT
- Fire science
- Health services
- Integrated academics
- Marketing
- Education
- Welding
The career center also pulls from 11 school districts across Jackson, Bates, and Cass counties.
"The mission is to make kids job-ready, day one. They walk out of here with skills, not just physical skills but academic skills," Kelly explained. "Right now, we’re discussing how do we get more? How do we get more in the local workforce?"
Jobs can be difficult to come by for residents of Cass County. There are good-paying jobs, but there aren't enough of them.
According to the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) in 2022, Cass County had 52,627 workers and just 30,725 total jobs in the area.
Cass County has one of the highest unemployment rates in the Kansas City metro, at 4%, according to MARC. The 11 counties pooled in MARC's data don't show much variation in unemployment rates between Cass County and its neighbors.
Still, 42% of the county's workforce must work elsewhere. It's something frequently expressed to Cass County Beat Reporter Ryan Gamboa; some towns are considered bedroom communities.
"Any first responders are short people right now," Kelly explained. "What we’re trying to do is just make the best candidates we can. In the two years that I got, they are the best candidates these people are getting."
The Cass Career Center has local partnerships through its Workforce Alliance Network, a group that helps local employers see the value in their program and students.
"These are kids that walk in and the men and women that walk out," Kelly said. "If they [employers] invest in us, these students will invest in them."
Cass County communities are navigating a growing population and how address important housing and labor needs.
KSHB 41 reported last year on a major expansion in Raymore that will bring 1,800 new jobs to NUULY, an Urban Outfitters brand at the Raymore Commerce Center.
On Monday, the Raymore City Council approved a special zoning application in a bid process to build a federal records storage facility for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The City of Raymore told Gamboa last year that the project, if the city is selected, would bring upwards of 300 higher-paying jobs to the community.
"We’ve tried for years to get development interests down here, and the challenge we’ve had for almost every group that we’ve talked to is, there isn’t enough traffic, there aren’t enough people, there aren’t enough housing units down here," explained David Gress, development services director for the City of Raymore. "The more people that are here, in this city, the more people that are likely to stop on their way home to grab a bite to eat or stop at a Walmart or Sam’s Club on their way home. That’s additional tax dollars that are coming to the city, potentially."
Through the 11 trade programs for high school students at the Cass Career Center, each student gets an opportunity to learn and work like they're on the job.
In Kelly's program, students come to class each day and wear the same uniform they would at police academy, including vests and utility belts, and earn individual ranks. They are engaged in classroom activities, crime scene investigation, physical training, and weapons training.
Kelly said that students who get this kind of exposure early on leads to better people, officers, and employees.
"When they leave my program. They’ve had 1,222 hours of law enforcement, criminal justice, constitutional law training," she said. "1,222 hours. Think of all that experience for free. That’s dollars you don’t have to spend. They are employable out the door... You sometimes don't get that many hours at the Academy."
A student can't join the force until they are 21 years old, but they can earn internships or work other jobs in the departments.
"I think I have six former students working at the Cass County Sheriff's Office now," she added. "A little over 30 percent is going into the local workforce, which to me is a great number. I am very proud of that."
That is just one vocation where 30% of the students enter the local workforce.
"This is the career path that I wanted and the career path the internship set up for me in order for me to continue along and grow," Zoe German shared. "They [Cass County Sheriff's Office] were so kind to give me the opportunity to work here at 18 years old. Now that I am 22 and have a full-time job, I carry the badge every day, and they’ve let me grow, giving me opportunity after opportunity to try different things. It means a lot.
Growing up in a law enforcement household, Zoe's dad, Capt. German says she was exposed to the job early.
She credits much of her career to his inspiration.
Capt. German and his wife worked hard to prioritize family time when the job brought difficult times and stress.
"I am so proud of her. Being able to serve the community is special, but being part of the community and serving the community is extra special," he said.
"She's one of those students that all teachers die for," Kelly added.
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