Workforce Florida President's Report: Sept./Oct. 2009

President's Report

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

Workforce System Remains Effective During Tough Times
With Florida's full focus on economic recovery, it can be a challenge at times to pause and recognize progress, but it's important to do so. Florida's workforce system continues to have a strong story to tell reflecting its success, even during tough economic times, in helping Floridians advance in the workforce while supporting the competitiveness of businesses in our state through employment and training services and resources.

Workforce Florida recently submitted Florida's 2008-2009 Federal Annual Report to the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) and in it is encouraging news of the more than 1.3 million people and 51,000 employers served through the workforce system using federal Wagner-Peyser (WP) and Workforce Investment Act (WIA) funding.

Among other highlights in the report:

Through Workforce Florida-administered Quick Response Training (QRT) and Incumbent Worker Training (IWT), 182 businesses received grants to reimburse them for a portion of their costs for training about 20,000 workers. QRT is a state-funded, customized training grant that is a key component of Florida's economic development tool kit. It is instrumental in Florida's efforts to support job creation and retention. IWT is federally funded and often a go-to training resource for Florida small businesses.

About 14,000 young people, ages 14-24, participated in the 2009 Summer Youth Employment Program, funded by federal stimulus dollars (more on this program appears later in this report).

Of the $125.4 million in WIA and Wagner-Peyser funds spent on workforce development, 92.5 percent was invested in direct customer services.

Of the unemployed assisted by the workforce system, 58 percent of the Wagner-Peyser customers, 84 percent of the WIA adult customers and 86 percent of those who lost a job through a layoff or business closing (referred to as dislocated workers and served using WIA dollars) gained employment.

Seventy-two percent of the WIA dollars spent by local workforce boards covered costs associated with Individual Training Accounts (ITAs), which are scholarships for individuals to help cover training-related expenses to allow them to acquire or upgrade their skills in in-demand occupations.

Florida also greatly exceeded all nine of its federal WIA performance goals. For example:

Of adults who used workforce system services: the number who found jobs exceeded the goal by almost 18 percent and the number who kept their jobs exceeded the goal by nearly 17 percent.

Of youth who used workforce system services: the number who obtained a degree or certificate topped the goal by almost 20 percent and the number who either were placed in either a job or an educational program surpassed the goal by nearly 13 percent.

Adults in all 24 Regional Workforce Boards met or exceeded average earning requirements, with adults earning a statewide average of $8,000 more than the set goal.

All of these successes demonstrate Florida's commitment to performance and accountability. They also underscore the responsiveness and flexibility that has led to Florida's national recognition as a model workforce system. This exciting story of achievement is especially timely given the federal dialogue underway on WIA Reauthorization. And while this ongoing discussion indicates support for reauthorization, as a state on the vanguard of workforce innovation, Florida must take every opportunity to highlight how our workforce system continues to bolster business competitiveness, build a more highly skilled workforce and transition more Floridians to self-sufficiency.

Planning for Florida's Future
For the past two months, Workforce Florida's Strategy Council, led by Chair J. David Armstrong Jr., Broward College President, has engaged partners across the state in our strategic planning effort, "Creating the Strategy for Today's Needs and Tomorrow's Talent."

I think all involved would agree that it's been exhilarating work as we develop the 2010-2015 State Strategic Plan for Workforce Development. So much fine work and strong dialogue has been contributed to this effort that I encourage you to visit Workforce Florida's Web site to review the breadth and depth of the work to date, including the toolkit that supports the five face-to-face Rudder Team sessions in September and October as well as the roundtables and interviews on topics including science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills, workforce and economic trends, targeted industries, small businesses, rural Florida, growing the green economy and workforce training to support business retention, relocation and expansion.

Workforce Florida also has joined in forums and conferences held by partner organizations and Florida companies to gather important leadership insight for the strategic plan. Most recently, for example, we held a Strategy Council meeting in conjunction with the Future of Florida Forum, planned by the Florida Chamber of Commerce. Chair Belinda Keiser, Vice Chancellor of Community Relations and Student Advancement at Keiser University, provided an update on our planning effort and we used the opportunity to engage leaders on developing a Talent Supply Chain Team for Florida. I really do appreciate the hundreds of partners, business leaders and other stakeholders who have contributed to this undertaking since the August launch and the outstanding support from the Workforce Florida Board, staff members and our consulting team, Fairfield Index Inc.

Workforce & Economic Development

Workforce Leaders, Governor Crist Observe Workforce Development Month
Governor Charlie Crist proclaimed September as Workforce Development Month. We are fortunate to have the Governor's support in working toward our vision for a globally competitive workforce. We are equally fortunate to have talented workforce professionals and leaders delivering services and supporting a future of new opportunities for the people and businesses of our state. I'd like to thank each and every one of Florida's dedicated workforce development professionals, at every level. Your commitment, hard work and innovative strategies contribute to Florida's continuing track record for bold and effective workforce solutions.

Workforce System Vies for USDOL Energy Grants
Workforce Florida, in partnership with the Agency for Workforce Innovation (AWI), recently submitted a proposal requesting $6 million in federal workforce funds in response to the U.S. Department of Labor's (USDOL) State Energy Sector Partnership and Training Grant opportunity. Stakeholders and supporters of this grant opportunity include the Florida Energy and Climate Commission, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Florida AFL-CIO and Florida's energy producers, and eight regional workforce board leaders who will serve as co-leads in four sub-state regions, among others. We anticipate success in securing the requested funds, and expect the USDOL's final decision in early January 2010.

Also currently under consideration is a grant proposal submitted in August 2009 by AWI that would fund a labor market statistics survey to further identify green jobs in Florida. A decision is expected from the USDOL in late November or early December.

These grant proposals were strengthened through the work of Workforce Florida's Sustainability & Infrastructure Committee, chaired by Lila Jaber, Shareholder at Akerman Senterfitt Attorneys at Law, and the contributions of Florida's 24 Regional Workforce Boards. Collectively, these efforts have better positioned our workforce system to address current and future needs of the emerging energy efficiency and renewable energy sectors in Florida and to be a leading voice in the national discussion on defining green jobs.

Supporting Workforce and Economic Development
Workforce Florida continues to address the needs of Florida businesses through funding opportunities in the form of Requests for Proposal (RFPs) on several fronts. Recently:

Eleven awards were made to Regional Workforce Boards (RWBs) under the WINGS initiative (Workforce Innovative New Generation Solutions). WINGS focuses on three critical areas: growing and strengthening Florida's green workforce; bolstering economic development in rural areas; and promoting small business start-ups and expansion. Competition for the $2.8 million in available funds for this project was stiff -- more than $7 million in proposals were received.

Thirteen awards were made to RWBs under the Employ Florida Healthcare Workforce Initiative. After piloting the initiative in South Florida with Regions 20-23, Workforce Florida made state set-aside funding available through a competitive RFP process to all other Regional Workforce Boards throughout the state, enabling them to vie for the funds to implement in their regions programs focusing on nursing, allied health, long-term care and health information technology. The Healthcare Ad-Hoc Committee, led by Workforce Florida Board member Mary Lou Brunell, will continue to track these 13 projects, and those in the South Florida pilot program, to identify resulting best practices and long-term workforce solutions.

An award was made to the Consortium of Florida Education Foundations to create a Florida STEM Council. The highly anticipated STEM Council's mission is to serve as a platform to coordinate and leverage diverse and disparate STEM programs statewide; to facilitate easy access by Florida businesses thus accelerating industry engagement; and to advocate for STEM education and instill STEM precepts from elementary through graduate-level education. This two-year effort, a result of Workforce Florida Board member Jennifer Grove's leadership, is founded on extensive work contributed by Enterprise Florida's Sena Black and was funded through the Sustainability/Infrastructure Committee of the Business Competitiveness Council.

Employ Florida Banner Centers Armed with Tools for Success
Workforce Florida hosted a well-attended "onboarding" meeting for Employ Florida Banner Centers on October 1. Held in Orlando, the event -- designed to get each Banner Center "on board" by helping them strengthen their operations and outreach tactics -- was attended by representatives from all 12 Banner Centers, including the two newest Banner Centers, Agriscience and Water Resources.

Emphasizing Banner Centers' overall mission to create talent pipelines for their respective industries and achieve independent, sustainable business models, the meeting touched on clarifying roles, responsibilities and relationships among Workforce Florida, Banner Center lead institutions and their advisory councils as well as improving overall communications and marketing efforts. Individual sessions aimed to assist Banner Centers in streamlining and maximizing curriculum-development; facilitating high-skill/high-wage career opportunities for Floridians; and cultivating and reinforcing partnerships with industry, workforce, education and economic development.

Onboarding attendees also had the opportunity to engage in Workforce Florida's strategic planning process, "Creating the Strategy for Today's Needs and Tomorrow's Talent," during a one-hour session designed to solicit their feedback on the challenges and opportunities that will help shape our vision for the 2010-2015 State Strategic Plan for Workforce Development. I appreciate the strong participation by Banner Center education and industry representatives. I'm also grateful for the hard work of our staff and the consulting teams Workforce Florida has engaged (The John Scott Dailey Florida Institute of Government at the University of South Florida and Moore Consulting Group) to help us assist Banner Centers in taking their performance to the next level with stronger governance and outreach. We at Workforce Florida look forward to the exciting work ahead to build upon the momentum of this widely recognized initiative and continue to grow its success.

Talent Caucus Launched as Partnership of Florida Chamber Foundation and Workforce Florida

Workforce Florida recently participated with partners from the Florida Chamber of Commerce, the Agency for Workforce Innovation, the Florida Departments of Education (DOE) and Elder Affairs and the State University System/Board of Governors to formally launch the Florida Talent Caucus. The Talent Caucus -- the next logical step in a years-long effort among Workforce Florida, the Chamber and others to guide Florida's innovation strategy and increase its capacity for innovation -- will address education, workforce development, and alignment with business and economic development.

The Chamber will track the Talent Caucus' progress -- and that of its sister groups such as the Innovation Caucus, and within the next year the Florida Chamber's Governance, Business Climate, Infrastructure and Quality of Life "pillars" -- on The Florida Scorecard, an online "dashboard" for leading and lagging indicators of Florida's economy, demographics and other key issues.

Workforce Florida and the Department of Education have joined forces to create the "Strategic Doing" model which will help frame the Caucus' goals, introduce a Talent Supply Chain Team approach in Florida and measure the Talent Caucus' goals against its actions, among other things. Workforce Florida also has partnered with IBM to use its research on the Enterprise of the Future and Smart Cities, Smart Planet as a reality-check for the demands of the future workplace and how that may affect the workforce education and development pipeline.

Workforce Readiness & Performance

Keeping the Focus on Work Readiness
As we continue to weather what has now become the longest recession on record, Workforce Florida remains committed to maintaining Florida's progress on welfare transition and its focus on work readiness and employment. In the spirit of forging partnerships with other state agencies and entities with key roles in supporting Florida's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) customers, Workforce Florida and the Agency for Workforce Innovation recently hosted a workshop in Orlando to address the implications of high unemployment on the state's welfare caseload.

Discussion among attendees -- nearly 70, including representatives from all of the Regional Workforce Boards, the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) and others -- centered on the effects of current economic trends on Florida's welfare transition participation rate and TANF customers' engagement in work-related activities. In an effort to proactively address these concerns, Region 10 (CLM Workforce Connection) has gotten underway an initiative to provide subsidized employment opportunities to TANF-eligible customers. Attendees discussed ways to foster partnerships and use stimulus funds to implement similar initiatives in their own regions as well as ways to sustain them after stimulus funds have dried up. Workforce Florida soon will meet with other key state partners to explore next steps in this worthy endeavor.

Workforce Partners Tout Workforce Investment Successes During Congressional Visits
As discussions continue on WIA Reauthorization, Florida's workforce system has turned a spotlight on its focus on the "investment" aspect of the WIA. Florida's fully integrated workforce system and effective partnerships with economic development, education and other key statewide public and private entities contribute to its national leadership status.

While in Washington, D.C., attending the USDOL Recovery and Reemployment Conference with other senior Florida workforce system staff, Workforce Florida Vice President of Workforce Readiness and Performance Steve Urquhart and Workforce Central Florida President CEO Gary Earl jointly visited the offices of Senator Bill Nelson and Representatives Bill Posey, Suzanne Kosmas and Ginny Brown-Waite as well as the leadership of the National Workforce Association and the National Governors Association. Urquhart and Earl educated staff in the offices of these members of Florida's Congressional Delegation on our state's workforce-investment strategy, touching on the importance of preserving individual states' flexibility to align workforce investments with state priorities and the needs to targeted industries. Examples cited of some best practices that have helped to distinguish Florida's workforce system included the Employ Florida Banner Centers initiative and its alignment to the Roadmap to Florida's Future; the Employ Florida Marketplace's online "virtual One-Stop" system; and Florida's early leadership in beginning to define green jobs in Florida.

The overarching message -- that, while the emphasis on "good jobs for everyone" is noble, workforce system success depends on striking the appropriate balance between employers' current and future talent needs and the readiness and development of its workforce -- was embraced by each office. We fully intend to continue to reiterate this point, to share our system's expertise and to hold up Florida's legacy of high achievements as the WIA Reauthorization debate continues.

Summer Program Provides 14,000 Florida Youths with Work and Training Opportunities
Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), 14,405 economically challenged young people in Florida, ages 14-24, received summer jobs and/or skills training. The personal stories of how this opportunity resulted in life-changing experiences from many young people and the praise from businesses boosted by the additional summer help continue to pour in. The Regional Workforce Boards have created a wonderful online presentation that includes personal stories, video, photos and highlights from each workforce region. The Summer Youth Employment Program represents an important snapshot in a long list of services and programs funded through the workforce system to help hone the skills of tomorrow's workforce today.

Technology

Geographic Solutions Hosts Technology Committee Meeting to Set Course for Future of Employ Florida Marketplace
Workforce Florida's Technology Committee, chaired by Workforce Florida Board member Andy Perez, Owner and CFO of the Academy of South Florida, recently met to set the strategic direction for workforce technology over the next five years in tandem with Workforce Florida's strategic-planning process currently underway. The meeting -- attended also by several Workforce Florida and Agency for Workforce Innovation staff members -- was held at the headquarters of Employ Florida Marketplace technology provider Geographic Solutions (GeoSol) in Palm Harbor.

GeoSol President Paul Toomey overviewed the features offered by Employ Florida Marketplace (EFM) Version 10.0 as well as a preview of the enhanced "in context" labor market information-mapping and graphic tools to be introduced within the next year.

If you have not looked at EFM lately, here are a few of the 300-plus new enhancements and features you will find by logging in:

The ability to notify employers when qualified candidates register on EmployFlorida.com and send text messages to job seekers when jobs they qualify for are posted