Debra Samuels had worked 11 years at the O’Sullivan plant in Lamar when the doors closed on July 6, 2007. She was among 700 people who were let go. Three days later, she was landing a new job — a union job — at the AT&T; call center in Joplin.

“The day they opened the doors I was here,’’ she said. “If I had not got this job, I was looking to relocate.’’

She does not regret her decision. She is now a key player in the management of operations at the call center, which employs about 600 people, including a few former employees of O’Sullivan.

“It’s a great environment. AT&T; is a wonderful employer,’’ she said. “This is completely different (when compared with O’Sullivan). You have a lot more interaction with people and I like that.’’

The 600 jobs at the AT&T; call center in Silver Creek Galleria and the nearly 750 positions created at the NCO call center, 117 W. Seventh St., can be linked to the “Magnificent Seven Campaign’’ launched about five years ago by a coalition of private and public donors that sought to bring jobs to the area.

That campaign was going well until this year when the bottom fell out. Joplin’s unemployment rate went from 5.7 percent in June 2008 to 8.6 percent in June of this year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Joplin market has about 80,000 jobs.

The “Magnificent Seven Campaign,’’ instead of producing 7,000 direct and indirect new jobs over five years, would produce about 4,300.

That campaign is now history and a new one is taking its place.

The Joplin Regional Prosperity Initiative, which will start next year and continue for the next five years, is a $3.5 million campaign to create 4,000 direct jobs and 2,596 indirect jobs through new business attraction, business expansion and small-business development. Indirect jobs are created when new jobs are brought to a market.

The plan will be officially unveiled at a kickoff breakfast Thursday.

So far, 14 entities have signed on, including Missouri Southern State University and the Carthage Area Chamber of Commerce. The City of Joplin is contributing $1.5 million. The group needs to raise about $2 million.

The plan is being coordinated by Dennis Fuhrhop, with National Community Development Services Inc., of Atlanta, Ga., who has been meeting recently with potential supporters. The company is being paid $200,000 over five years to implement the initiative. No public money is being used to pay that fee.

Rob O’Brian, director of the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce, said, “The Magnificent Seven Campaign has evolved into the Joplin Regional Prosperity Initiative. It will be much broader in terms of work-force development. This will be a regional promotion.

“With our present experience of a softened economy, the community recognizes it is that much more important for us to be out there spurring job growth. We think the greater Joplin region is in a strong position to compete,’’ he said.

The plan is coming at a time when the nation is shedding jobs at the highest rate since the Great Depression. Would it not be more prudent to launch such a campaign when the economy is showing stronger signals of improvement?

Fuhrhop said, “This is the time to do it. It positions Joplin for the rebound. We are approaching this from the standpoint that we are making the effort to say we have something available. Many regions are not doing that because of the economic downturn. We will be in a position of being there when there is less competition.

“Even in this recession, there are companies out there that are doing well and looking for opportunities to expand,’’ he said.

Four thousand new jobs is “doable when you look at it in relation to the local population. It is a reasonable objective, especially if the economy becomes much brighter than it is today. It does not look reasonable when the economy is like it is now,’’ he said.

If a company, such as an AT&T; or an Aegis Communications, knocks on Joplin’s door, the plan would have someone there to answer it. And it’s not just American companies.

“There are global businesses that want to expand. The international market, including Scandinavian and European countries, is looking for opportunities in areas that are offering them the best value,’’ Fuhrhop said. “Where they are interested in expanding, they look for a voice to talk to. They look for a representative who will display the entire area.’’

The plan would display the entire area — not just Joplin, and Jasper and Newton counties. The thought there is that the Joplin area is interconnected and that a rising tide in terms of new jobs raises all boats. The plan will offer “virtual” spec buildings.

“We have the ability to display to somebody who is interested in a building somewhere what it will look like and that there are options to fit their needs,’’ Fuhrhop said. “We will be able to put together your infrastructure and site, show the site, then show them the virtual buildings that would sit there. We could do that with several locations throughout the region.’’

An objective of the initiative is to reduce the high-school dropout rate. Developers of the plan want to earmark $900,000 for work-force development by increasing the level of educational attainment and skills training to better match the needs of higher-paying jobs.

“Companies want skills that make more people more viable. They want to know what level of education is available. Do our workers have the skills available for what the company needs? If we do not have those exact skills, do we have a trainable population that we could train for their need. That’s why basic education is very important here,’’ Fuhrhop said.

The promoters of the plan say nearly 7,000 direct and indirect new jobs would result in $274 million in total annual payroll earnings. Of that amount, $198 million would be net personal consumption expenditures.

The plan, if successful, could increase the total estimated annual tax revenue by $6.7 million.

The plan is welcome news for Jim Stone, of Joplin, a 59-year-old electrical engineer, who is seeking a job at a time when the number of job choices available to him is low.

“Usually, the folks who do economic development are going after manufacturing infrastructure. Southwest Missouri has never had a lot of industry,’’ he said. “Going after higher-paying technological jobs would be great for the area.

“I have been unemployed a little over two years. But I have a lot of experience to offer. The key for me is to look at these new ventures from the prosper perspective of what I can offer,’’ he said.



Go and do

An overview of the Joplin Regional Prosperity Initiative will take place at 7:30 a.m. Thursday at the Butcher’s Block Banquet Center. Bryan Vowels, of Wells Fargo Advisors, Rob O’Brian, director of the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce, and Bill Gipson, president of the Empire District Electric Co., will present the campaign and seek support from businesses and public entities, both local and regional.