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President's Report
NOVEMBER 2008
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Workforce & Economic Development
Meeting today's workforce needs and preparing for tomorrow's
In a recent Workforce Florida presentation prepared by request for the Executive Office of the Governor, Office of Policy and Budget, Florida's current workforce challenge was summarized as "helping Floridians find and retain employment during the current economic downturn with an eye toward securing the state's future as the economy rebounds." The dialogue and actions at the November 18-20 Workforce Florida Board of Directors' meetings were in keeping with our challenge.
We heard several presentations on Florida's economy and building for our future through strategic planning, investments and partnerships. The board also took action on expanding the Food Stamp Employment and Training Program, the release of a $4 million supplemental allocation of federal Rapid Response funds to regional workforce boards to assist laid off workers with finding new jobs and the approval of the 11th regional workforce board in the state (WorkNet Pinellas) to begin operating its own One-Stop Centers, thus freeing up some money to redirect to programs and services. To date, regional workforce boards have received $23 million in Rapid Response funding to help laid off workers, a need that is mounting as Florida's unemployment rate, now at 7 percent, rises. With these additional financial resources provided to the regional workforce boards, about $191 million in new federal funding this fiscal year has been deployed to the local level to support frontline workforce services to job seekers and businesses.
Another critical accomplishment during this series of meetings was the organizational sessions held for the Workforce Florida Board Councils and Committees and the decision by the board to set aside $3.25 million in federal Workforce Investment Act (WIA) funding for the Workforce Readiness & Performance Council and the Strategy Council to direct to workforce priorities. (Last May, the board approved a $2 million allocation to the Business Competitiveness Council to direct toward workforce needs.)
In fact, Workforce Florida's unique and vital role in meeting the challenges of tough economic times without losing sight of the need to create a foundation for responding to our future workforce needs was the subject of comments by several guest speakers including Amy Baker, the Chief Economist of the Florida Legislature, who had this to say:
"The shape of Florida's workforce is going to be changing so much and the issues that we will be dealing with are so new to us that they are going to take a lot of thought and a lot of time and there are not a lot of entities that have the ability to focus on the future.
"Within state agencies and within the legislative process, we focus (on) today. We don't have a lot of time to put on what's happening in the future. That is a very important role for (Workforce Florida) and I would definitely not lose that focus. . . .
"There are not very many other folks that have the luxury to concentrate on those issues that need to be focused on. So, when I talk to people about demographics and what's coming, they always ask me who is focusing on this in the state, who is talking about this, who is planning for it and (Workforce Florida) and a couple of other entities are really the only ones that are doing that, so it is, in my personal opinion, a very important role."
Amy's remarks followed another very sobering presentation by her to the board on the eve of the November Revenue Estimating Conference at which she and other state economists projected an even greater state budget shortfall (about $2 billion) this year. To be sure, these are difficult times in our state, but I am ever mindful of Governor Charlie Crist's strong leadership, and heartened by the leadership of the individuals he has appointed and assigned to the Workforce Florida Board that we have some of the brightest minds and an accomplished team of energetic and passionate business and government leaders committed to solutions to guide Florida's workforce system. As I have shared in this space in recent months some specific examples of how regional workforce boards are responding to demands for employment and training services, I remain confident that we'll continue to rise to the challenge.
Amy's presentation, "Florida: An Economic Overview," is available on the Workforce Florida Web site or by clicking here. Also available are the presentations by Rebecca Rust, Director of the Florida Labor Market Statistics Center, "Tools for Evaluating and Growing Florida's Economy"; Sena Black, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Strategic Intelligence for Enterprise Florida, "Roadmap to Florida's Future Strategic Plan for Economic Development"; Dale Brill, Director of the Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development, "Workforce Think Tank"; and Tony Carvajal, Executive Vice President of the Florida Chamber Foundation, "Planning from the Future."
I would like to again thank Amy, Rebecca and Dale for their informative presentations to our full board and Tony and Sena for their outstanding presentations to the Strategy Council. I also would like to again thank our reception sponsors (the Northwest Florida Workforce Consortium and the Florida Chamber Foundation) and everyone involved for their contributions to another successful series of meetings during Workforce Florida's quarterly board meeting. You are each critical to our success and clearly play a major part in shaping the work product and overall impact of our organization.
Banner Centers highlighted in legislative brief
In addition to picking up a recent Excellence Award for Educational Partnerships from the International Economic Development Council (IEDC), the Employ Florida Banner Centers initiative is the subject of a new issues brief by the Senate Commerce Committee. The briefing includes overviews provided by Workforce Florida of the entire initiative and each of the 11 centers.
Banner Centers were created by Workforce Florida and its partners to serve as a statewide, go-to resource for cutting-edge training for workers who need skills upgrades and for businesses that need talent in high-value sectors. Under the leadership of Governor Charlie Crist, the initiative has expanded to 11 Banner Centers, based at either a Florida community college or university, most of which focus on industries such as digital media, health sciences and aviation and aerospace, among others.
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Technology
Governor Crist encourages Floridians to go virtual with EmployFlorida.com
When asked about Florida's efforts to help people find jobs during the recent Republican Governors Association meeting in Miami, Governor Charlie Crist invited Floridians to go to the Employ Florida Marketplace Web site at EmployFlorida.com. "There are jobs available. There are opportunities. And we're trying to do more," said Governor Crist. The site was launched by Workforce Florida, in conjunction with the 24 regional workforce boards and the Agency for Workforce Innovation, in part to create a more seamless workforce system to serve the people and businesses of our state. It offers job seekers access to thousands of employment listings and businesses and organizations access to people looking for entry-level to executive positions -- all at no charge. It has undergone a series of improvements during the Governor's administration and currently lists about 200,000 job openings, has 65,500 registered employers and provides access to 148,500 job-seeker resumes.
Since January 2007, regional workforce boards have directly assisted more than 46,500 employers in filling 122,000 jobs using the Employ Florida Marketplace. Additionally, nearly 1.5 million people have used the site's job-matching, career development and other resources. |
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Telling the Workforce Story
One of the most rewarding aspects of the work we do here at Workforce Florida is sharing the story of how our workforce system is transforming lives through training and career opportunities and strengthening the state's business climate. Periodically, in this report, I'll share with you some of the groups Workforce Florida leaders are taking our message to.
I had the privilege of participating in the opening panel discussion at the Manufacturers Association of Florida's 5th Annual Summit in Jacksonville where Workforce Florida Program Director Jayne Burgess also served as a speaker in a subsequent session titled "Tools You Can Use Today for Improving Your Workforce Tomorrow." That session was moderated by Dr. Eric Roe, who is the principal investigator for the Employ Florida Banner Center for Manufacturing based at Hillsborough Community College. I also took part in Space Florida's Workforce Leadership Summit. The Workforce Leadership Summit brought together state and federal partners to learn more about tools and resources available for the promotion and advancement of the aviation/aerospace industry within Florida. Notable participants included Workforce Florida board member George Hauer, Lisa Rice from the Brevard Workforce Development Board, and Kevin Neal from the Agency for Workforce Innovation. The speakers included high-level representatives from NASA, Kennedy Space Center, the U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration and the Small Business Administration. All-in-all, the summit symbolized the strong foundation Florida has within the space industry and the commitment by both the State of Florida and the federal government to the preservation and growth of Florida's aviation/aerospace sector.
Meanwhile, Andra Cornelius, CEcD, Vice President of Business and Workforce Development Opportunities, addressed the American Water Works Association and the American Water Workforce Research Federation. Steve Urquhart, Vice President for Workforce Performance, presented a Workforce Florida and Florida workforce system overview to the Florida Association of Chamber Professionals. Jayne and Debbie McMullian, Quick Response Training Program Manager, co-presented to the Workforce Development Board of Okaloosa and Walton Counties' Business Competitiveness Committee, and Jayne addressed a leadership group at JEA.
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Key Dates
December 4: Florida Energy Workforce Consortium Meeting. Marion Technical Institute. Hosted by CLM Workforce and Progress Energy
December 4: Space Florida Board of Directors Meeting. Pensacola
December 17: Workforce Florida Board of Directors, Executive Committee Teleconference.
January 20-22: Enterprise Florida Board and Stakeholders Council Meeting. Tallahassee
February 17-19: Workforce Florida Board of Directors' Meetings. Tallahassee
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Thank you for your commitment to creating a world-class workforce in Florida.
Sincerely,
Chris Hart IV
President/CEO
Workforce Florida, Inc.
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Workforce Snapshot
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Available Workforce:
Up 153,000
Unemployment Rate:
7%
Most Job Growth:
By Metro
Gainesville
700 new jobs
By Sector
Education & Health Services
Up 35,100
Leisure and Hospitality
Up 9,400
Government
Up 4,700
Source: Florida Labor Market Statistics Center (September 2008 data) |
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Featured Sector
Biotechnology
Employed Workforce:
30,662
up 3,463 from December 2006
Largest Sub-sector:
Surgical and medical instrument manufacturing employs 29.9% of the biotech workforce
Average Annual Wage:
$55,677 ($59,075 for research
and development)
40% more than the state's average
Fast Facts:
· Because
the primary function of the biosciences industry is to manufacture
pharmaceutical and medical instruments, nine of the 15 largest occupations
employed by this industry are production-related.
· Employment in the biosciences industry is
concentrated in the southeast, central, and northeast
parts of the state.
Source:
Florida Labor Market
Statistics Center |
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