Workforce Florida President's Report: October 2011

President's Report

October 2011

Competing To Win

Workforce Florida Chairman Has Robust Vision for Role of Talent in Supporting Economic Development

Ingram

Recently appointed Workforce Florida Board of Directors Chairman Dwayne Ingram, Executive Vice President of Amadeus Americas, is laser focused on challenging the nation's No. 1 workforce system to improve performance, accountability, efficiency and responsiveness in delivering workforce services and designing talent development strategies that support Governor Rick Scott's goal to make Florida the job creation leader and top destination for starting, expanding, operating or locating a business. Our system's No. 1 priority is helping unemployed Floridians get back to work.

Chairman Ingram has summed up how Workforce Florida will advance the Governor's bold job creation plan with four "C's" - collaboration, change, communication and commitment. Recent board actions and governance changes reflect the Chairman's framework for the important work ahead. For instance, to better position the Workforce Florida Board to serve optimally in the new state workforce and economic development infrastructure, Chairman Ingram led the board in resetting its focus to strategy and policy and streamlining its governance model.

The three governing councils of the Workforce Florida Board - Finance & Administration, Global Talent Competitiveness and Performance & Accountability - are designed to work collaboratively to improve and maximize system effectiveness, efficiency and accountability with the ultimate goal of delivering a skilled workforce to meet market demands today and in the future.

Chairman Ingram also is committed to supporting and advancing the collective movement toward one strategy for Florida to grow jobs, while doing all we can to sustain the jobs we have. In his own words, "We are in the midst of a cultural shift, and we've got to get the job done."

Department of Economic Opportunity Open for Business

The Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) opened this month, marking a new era in economic development for Florida. At a news conference to officially launch the newest state agency, Governor Rick Scott said: "Florida means business and I am honored today to add a critical component to Florida's economic development strategy with the opening of the new DEO. For the first time, we have combined the state's economic, workforce and community development professionals under one roof." DEO logo

DEO, along with Workforce Florida and Enterprise Florida, now join the Governor to make up his new Jobs Council for ensuring strong collaboration and coordination among public and private partners to deliver on the Governor's goal of creating 700,000 jobs in seven years.

I was delighted to join the Governor, Florida's Secretary of Commerce Gray Swoope and DEO Executive Director Doug Darling for the agency launch, along with several other leaders including Lieutenant Governor Jennifer Carroll, Visit Florida President/CEO Chris Thompson, Florida Housing Finance Corporation Executive Director Stephen P. Auger, Representative Dorothy Hukill (R-Port Orange) and Representative Michelle Rehwinkel-Vaslinda (D-Tallahassee).

Governance

Workforce Florida Welcomes New and Reapppointed Board Members

Governor Scott has made several appointments and reappointments to the Workforce Florida Board of Directors and we are fortunate to have these distinguished leaders either join or remain on the state workforce investment board.

The seven new members are:

Brittany O. Birken, of Tallahassee, Chief Executive Officer of the Florida Children's Services Council.
Robert Gidel, of Orlando, Managing Member of Liberty Capital Advisors.
Maria D. Rodriguez, of Miami Lakes, President of Youth Co-Op Inc. and a previous Workforce Florida Board member, having served from March 2005 to July 2008.
Wayne Rosen, of Coral Gables, Owner and President of Shores Development Inc.
Richard Shriver, of Tallahassee, North Florida Division Human Resources Vice President of Hospital Corporation of America.
Steve Sonenreich, of Miami, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mount Sinai Medical Center.
William "Bill" Williams, of Port St. Joe, member of the Gulf County Commission.

Reappointed to the Board are:

Don Gugliuzza, of Bradenton, Owner and Chief Executive Officer of Mileo and Associates Inc.
Leslie Ingram, of Pensacola, Vice President of Customer Operations for Overgroup.
Eric Kennedy, of Margate, Associate Dean of Trade and Industrial Programs at Palm Beach State College.
Andy Perez, of Miami, Owner and Chief Financial Officer of the Academy of South Florida.
Al Stimac, of Altamonte Springs, Owner and President of Metal Essence Inc.

All of these appointments and reappointments underscore Governor Scott's commitment to talent development as a key area of support for job creation and retention as well as a critical partner in making Florida the nation's best state for business.

Workforce Florida Launches Board Learning Series

Workforce Florida recently launched the Board Learning Series, designed to enhance members' strategic ability and provide key, timely information to support consideration of policy issues as well as serve as a forum for discussion and questions. The inaugural Series module, led September 29 by Chairman Dwayne Ingram, covered Workforce Development in Florida: Laws, Funding, Governance and Tools. PowerPoint and Audio presentations, along with many supplementary materials can be found on Workforce Florida's website.

The second program in the Board Learning Series, titled The $78 Million Question: Workforce Resources to Support the Right Training for the Right Occupations at the Right Time, focused on how Florida identifies and supports targeted occupations. Presenters included Florida Office of Economic and Demographic Research Coordinator Amy Baker, Gulf Coast Workforce Board Executive Director Kim Bodine and Workforce Florida Customized Training Program Director Jayne Burgess. The presentation, audio and additional materials can be found on the Board Learning Series information page on Workforce Florida's website.

Though the Board Learning Series is primarily designed to assist Workforce Florida board members, anyone is welcome to attend and state workforce and economic development partners and stakeholders, in particular, are encouraged to join the webinars. In addition to Workforce Florida board members, we have had participation from Regional Workforce Board leaders as well as staff leaders from Workforce Florida and DEO attend both webinars. Tentative future Board Learning Series dates through June 2012 also are available on the Board Learning Series information page.

Topics will be presented by Workforce Florida staff and invited guest experts - local, state and national, as appropriate - to facilitate thorough discussion and understanding of the issues, decision points and impacts. If you have comments, suggestions or questions, please email us at BoardLearningSeries@workforceflorida.com.

Supporting Business Growth

Aviation/Aerospace and Clean Technology Business Leaders Voice Industry Needs

One of Workforce Florida's six strategic goals for talent development is providing world-class service to Florida's target industry clusters. In 2010, Workforce Florida decided to address ways to enhance, over three years, service to the six Targeted Industry Clusters as defined by Enterprise Florida by creating task forces to determine and address the needs of each. Task forces for the first two industry clusters of focus - aviation and aerospace and clean technology - compiled feedback received from business leaders that will inform the policies and strategies developed by this board and also serve to inform measures of effectiveness for our state and local resources as policies and strategies are implemented.

Aviation and aerospace companies conveyed a need for proof of a faster, more efficient workforce and economic development engine in Florida. They also want to see the same level of commitment shown to both new and existing businesses and for Florida's workforce and economic development partners to cultivate a culture of consultancy and measure success according to more customer-focused, less internal reporting-focused, performance measures. Clean technology leaders voiced a need for stronger, more client-based relationships with Florida's state colleges and universities as well as greater mapping of curricula to state economic development goals. The industry also stated a need for a comprehensive statewide energy policy and alignment between economic development efforts and state energy policies.

New task forces scheduled to launch before the end of this year will focus on homeland security and defense and life sciences.

Florida Eight Teams Begin to Form

Workforce Florida recently launched an initiative, The Florida Eight, designed to build and improve - in up to eight identified regions of the state - regional capacity; job and business retention; international diversification; and regional collaboration. The Florida Eight is timely and complements the efforts advanced by Governor Scott and the Florida Legislature to break down barriers to a strong business climate.

The initiative serves as a business incubator of sorts: Through The Florida Eight, regional teams can access research, marketing and other support they need as they develop plans and strategies for improving job and business retention. The goal is to make business retention efforts more collaborative and coordinated for greater efficiency and, ultimately, more success for Florida.

So far, five regional teams - Northeast, South-Central, East-Central, Southeast and Tampa Bay - have been approved. The teams are meeting regularly to determine their economic development needs and next steps. The second round of applications for prospective regional teams ends January 2012, and the final application process will be February through July 2012.

Telling the Workforce Story

Statewide Ambassador Campaign Highlights Workforce Success

Workforce Florida recently launched the statewide Employ Florida Marketplace Ambassadors Campaign to give job seekers and businesses who have experienced firsthand the benefits of the Marketplace and other workforce-system resources a platform to share their successes. This campaign highlights Florida businesses and job seekers such as MedCo Data Chief Operating Officer Rob Cash, Capital Regional Medical Center Recruitment and Retention Manager Portia Huston, WestPoint Home Inc. Plant Manager Terry Ellis as well as Green Cove Springs Junior High School teacher Michael Taft and principal Saryn Hatcher who have successfully used the Employ Florida Marketplace to find jobs, post jobs, get training information, secure top job candidates and more.

The outreach campaign aims to boost the daily use of the Employ Florida Marketplace and build brand recognition of the Employ Florida Marketplace and the Employ Florida network. The campaign has an online presence on Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Florida Trend and in daily newspapers across the state. Nine billboards have been placed in counties with the highest unemployment rates, and advertisements have been strategically placed in daily newspapers, community papers, minority papers and college publications. Ambassadors also tell their stories on commercial and public radio statewide.

Employ Florida Communications Professionals Meet to Increase Effectiveness

Communications is integral to the mission of the state workforce system. Helping businesses and job seekers who have had successful workforce system experiences share their success stories is critical to raising awareness of workforce service in Florida. To examine how they are working individually and collectively to improve state and local-level communications outreach and marketing efforts, communications staff from Workforce Florida, DEO and several local workforce boards - collectively known as the Employ Florida Communications Consortium - met recently in Tallahassee. In particular, attendees focused on how to support sharing the story of the successes of our nationally recognized workforce system as we raise awareness about services and resources to assist job seekers and employers. Attendees also participated in valuable training in social media and getting the right message to the right people at the right time.

I would like to give special thanks to Gulf Coast Workforce Board Chairman Gary Ross and Executive Director Kim Bodine for taking a day out of their busy schedules to participate as well as Kim Moore, CEO of Workforce Plus, for providing meeting space. I'd also like to thank communications staff from several regional workforce boards and DEO for attending as well as all of their respective leaders for supporting their participation in this valuable opportunity. As we move to develop an integrated communications plan to support our economic development goals for Florida, I look forward to seeing more collaboration among this key group of workforce professionals.

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