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President's Report
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2009
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A New Strategic Vision
Aligning Florida's Workforce and Economic Development Efforts
Seeking to more closely align the work of Florida's workforce and economic development organizations, Governor Charlie Crist has appointed me as Interim Director of the Governor's Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development (OTTED) in addition to my role as President and CEO of Workforce Florida. I'm honored by the appointment and appreciative of the widespread and warm support I have received as I transition into this joint leadership role. Governor Crist has made clear his priority for a new and unprecedented level of coordination and collaboration focused on creating jobs and connecting Floridians to new economic opportunities. Florida's businesses create jobs and for them to be productive and competitive they need skilled workers to thrive. I am excited about the year ahead and predict we will make great strides to propel Florida forward through our talent development and economic development efforts in 2010.
Creating the Strategy for Today's Needs and Tomorrow's Talent: 2010-2015 Strategic Plan for Workforce Development
I am proud to present the new, five-year state strategic plan for workforce, Creating the Strategies for Today's Needs and Tomorrow's Talent. The strategic blueprint is the culmination of a planning process that began in earnest last August under the leadership of the Workforce Florida Board of Directors, led by Chair Belinda Keiser of Keiser University, and through months-long direction and contributions from the Strategy Council led by Chair David Armstrong, President of Broward College. This important roadmap was created through model collaboration and openness to ensure Florida's workforce system continues to rise to today's challenges as well as those that lie ahead in addressing the employment and training needs of Floridians and the businesses that provide the economic foundation for our state. Partners and the public were invited to contribute to the work at every stage. Throughout the process information from the eight Strategy Council sessions, roundtables with experts and interviews as well as other research and data were available on Workforce Florida's Web site, where it remains as part of the strategic planning toolkit.
Critical to this strategic planning work was ensuring even stronger alignment among those institutions and organizations that play a role in developing workforce talent, at every level, through the call to action for a Talent Supply Chain Team. The workforce system's continuing focus on responding to the needs of the unemployed as well as low-income Floridians and young people seeking to enter the workforce, among others, was another key component. Yet another was strengthening the collaboration and coordinated investment aimed at supporting the state's economic development priorities to diversify Florida's economy. What resulted were the following six strategic goals: World-Class Service to Florida's Target Industry Clusters and World-Class Service to Florida's Infrastructure Innovators to Support Economic Diversification and Job Creation and Retention; Top National and State Leadership for the Demand-Driven Solution; Aligned, Responsive, Jointly Engaged Talent Supply Chain Team; Outstanding Business Communications and Intelligence for Performance and Accountability; and Dedicated Commitment to Change Management and Transformation.
Workforce Florida's Board has made it clear this strategic vision is just an important first step. The next one, already underway, is transforming the plan into action. We have begun the initial effort of developing an operational plan that will help us realize this vision. The full strategic plan is available on Workforce Florida's Web site. |
Rising to the Challenge
Florida Takes Creative Approach to Putting Floridians Back to Work
In a concerted effort to put Floridians back to work, Governor Crist recently announced a partnership between Florida's workforce system and the Department of Children & Families (DCF) to launch Florida Back to Work. The new initiative could, directly and indirectly, create more than 25,000 jobs statewide between now and Sept. 30. Florida Back to Work enables public and private employers to contract with a Regional Workforce Board to cover up to 95 percent of the salary cost for each employee.
With $20 million in reserve funds authorized by Florida's Legislative Budget Commission - and potentially as much as $200 million in non-recurring federal funding - Regional Workforce Boards are actively gearing up to identify potential public and private partners and encourage their involvement. Florida Back to Work will utilize Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) emergency contingency funds to support the creation of these jobs for the Floridians who most need them.
Despite a tight timeline for implementation, Florida Back to Work already is showing positive results in Marion County, where it has resulted in the successful opening of a DCF call center staffed by 76 people who previously were unemployed.
I must take this opportunity to thank Florida's workforce professionals for continuing to rise to the challenge to address the needs of businesses and job seekers during this extraordinary economic time. |
Governance
Workforce Florida's Quarterly Board Meeting
While much of the focus and work during the November Board of Directors Meeting was on developing the new strategic plan, among other highlights was a presentation from Michael Belitzky, Director of Federal Affairs for the Agency for Workforce Innovation (AWI) in Florida's Washington Office. In his presentation, Michael provided an overview of Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Reauthorization and underscored the need for a unified Florida position on this legislation, which is the cornerstone of the workforce system. Also Chair Keiser announced the creation of the new Legislative Policy Council as well as a new Legislative Ambassadors Program. The new, standing Council, led by Chair Mary Lou Brunell of the Florida Center for Nursing, is charged with reviewing all legislative initiatives proposed for Workforce Florida Board support and recommending an annual legislative policy agenda. The Ambassadors Program seeks to clearly and concisely educate the Florida Legislature and the Florida Congressional Delegation about our state's unique and nationally recognized approach to workforce development.
Workforce Florida Board Member Appointments
Governor Crist recently appointed Workforce Florida Board member Benedict Grzesik to the Florida Rehabilitation Council for the Blind, following an earlier appointment of Board member Eric Kennedy to the Florida Rehabilitation Council.
Both councils are housed within the Florida Department of Education's Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, whose mission is to increase employment, enhance independence and improve quality of life for disabled and blind Floridian citizens. Workforce Florida is required to have a presence on each council to assist in determining, analyzing and meeting the workforce needs of disabled and blind Floridians as well as measuring the outcomes of such efforts. We appreciate Eric's and Ben's willingness to serve in these important roles and look forward to continuing our collaboration with these organizations.
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Workforce Readiness & Performance
Youth Workforce Readiness and Talent Development ActivitiesWorkforce Florida continues to remain engaged in preparing Florida's youth for the world of work and increasing their access to education and training opportunities through the activities of the Strengthening Youth Partnership (SYP). We've taken advantage of several recent opportunities to exchange ideas to advance our efforts. Staff from Workforce Florida, AWI, Brevard Workforce, Workforce Alliance, the Departments of Children and Families (DCF), Juvenile Justice and Community Affairs along with representatives of education and industry recently attended the U.S. Department of Labor's Peer-to-Peer Forum and planning session in Phoenix. During the forum we shared information regarding Florida's ongoing efforts to benefit at-risk youth and our focus on "green" youth work experiences. Florida also was one of 15 states asked to participate in the fall convention of the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative, which focused on addressing the needs of youth in foster care and was held in November in San Antonio. During a recent teleconference of the Shared Visions for Youth Community of Practice Florida Team, Workforce Florida staff overviewed SYP efforts for state and federal program representatives as well as some of the initiative's successes, including the expansion of CHOICE-modeled career academies in Florida high schools the Shared Case Management Pilot (2007-2009) targeting increased services to juvenile and foster youth and the successful implementation of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Summer Youth program.Florida's SYP team also recently developed an action plan that includes creating a resource map, a youth strategic plan and collaborating on future cross-agency grant opportunities. |
Workforce & Economic Development
USDOL Issues Green Jobs Training Grants
Recently
the U.S. Department of Labor announced about $12 million in green jobs
training grants for Florida including: $3.3 million to the Broward
County Minority Builders Coalition to train unemployed individuals,
veterans, minorities, women and people with criminal histories who are
seeking employment; $3 million to Citrus Levy Marion Workforce Connection
to provide green jobs training to unemployed individuals, low-income
adults, high-school dropouts and people with criminal histories who are
seeking employment; $2.3 million to Boley Centers Inc. in St. Petersburg to train disadvantaged and unemployed youth; $2.2 million to Florida State College at Jacksonville
to train unemployed individuals, high school dropouts and people with
criminal histories who are seeking employment; and $1.2 million to the Agency for Workforce Innovation to conduct a labor market statistics survey to further identify current green jobs in Florida.
Governor Crist Promotes Small Business Development, Resources
In observance of Florida Small Business Month, Governor Crist recently convened more than 20 small business owners and public and private sector leaders in workforce, economic development and industry for a Small Business Summit. A key goal of the Summit was to connect the state's small business community with state resources that can empower them to grow and bolster Florida's economic strength and recovery. Small business accounts for nearly 60 percent of new jobs created in Florida, according to the Small Business Administration. Hailing small businesses as the backbone of Florida's economy, Governor Crist underscored his commitment to fostering free competitive enterprise for the state's small business owners. The Summit provided Workforce Florida with an opportunity to raise awareness about workforce-system services and tools available to help small businesses with identifying and hiring new employees as well as training their workers.
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Technology
Unemployment Compensation System Receiving Extreme Makeover AWI currently is replacing its unemployment compensation (UC) application system and among the primary goals of the upgrade is to better connect the UC application system and the Employ Florida Marketplace (EFM) to bridge the gap between unemployment compensation services and reemployment services. Added benefits of the upgrade include streamlined claims processing and expedited benefits payments. The new system, expected to be complete by 2013, should result in $43 million in annual cost savings, streamlined claims processing and expedited benefits payments. Workforce Florida, AWI, the Florida Workforce Development Association and the North Highland Company - the project vendor - are working together to facilitate the implementation of UC/EFM improvements. Workforce Florida and AWI Partnering on Development of Vets PortalThe workforce system recently had the opportunity to share a preview of the veterans' job micro-portal during a roundtable discussion hosted by Governor Crist to observe "Hire a Veteran" month and applaud Florida employers for hiring the men and women who have defended our country. Modeled after the Employ Florida Silver Edition site, the veterans' micro-portal will compile career, training and benefit resources on a dedicated Web site designed to meet veterans' specific needs. A product of collaboration among Workforce Florida, AWI and the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs, the micro-portal will be created in conjunction with FloridaVetsFirst.org and other online resources and will provide veterans with a single, custom point of entry for jobs, services and resources. Technology Committee Prepares for Monster Workshop SeriesBuilding on the success of a local pilot of the Monster.com " Power Seeker" workshop concept in Tallahassee, Workforce Florida's Technology Committee is ramping up a series of workshops statewide to help job seekers improve their competitiveness for jobs as well as to augment the current service offering in the state's workforce system and build awareness of Florida's workforce services through a co-branding effort with Monster.com. The "Power Seeker" workshops focus on supporting all job seekers with advice and techniques they can use to stand out to potential employers. Experts from Monster.com teach job seekers about new resume tips and strategies, successful networking, new job-hunting strategies, successful use of career tools and what employers are looking for when they interview in this difficult employment market. We appreciate Workforce Plus CEO Kimberly Moore's willingness to pilot this workshop in the Greater Tallahassee area, and look forward to a series of successful events this year. |
Key Dates
Feb. 9-11: Workforce Florida Board of Directors Meetings. Tallahassee.
Feb. 19: Space Florida Board of Directors Meeting. Orlando.
March 2: 2010 Legislative Session begins. 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 |
Florida's
Workforce:
9,180,000
Unemployment Rate:
11.8%
Job Growth:
Private Education and Health Services
Up 9,800*
*Education/Health Services is the only major Florida sector currently gaining jobs.
Source: Florida Labor Market Statistics Center (December 2009 data) |
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