The President's Perspective 

 

Florida's strong track record as a national workforce leader stems from our ability to deliver and develop the talent demanded by businesses of all sizes throughout the state. Our numbers tell the story:

 

• Over the past year, Florida's workforce system assisted more than 43,700 employers with an array of business-focused services.
• Our flagship programs, Quick Response Training and Incumbent Worker Training, together trained nearly 5,000 employees in 27 new and existing companies, helping provide new jobs and keep existing companies growing in Florida.
• Every month, our regional partners report more than 29,000 Floridians find jobs after receiving assistance through our system. 

 

Yes, as Governor Rick Scott often tells us, we have reason to brag. But we also must prepare to meet increased workforce demands with innovation, balancing existing and future needs while creating and implementing talent solutions that reflect global marketplace realities.

Business leaders in key industries routinely share with us insights on how Florida can improve workforce development. Foremost, they convey that business is evolving, and we need to stay connected and ensure our talent solutions evolve as well. This translates to our need to improve and build upon strategies to ensure Florida's workforce solutions are market relevant and demand driven. Business leaders also express a need for STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) skills and proficiency as a foundational element of Florida's talent pipeline.  

 

The good news is that, through the leadership of our board and enhanced collaboration with our state and local partners, significant efforts already are underway to meet these demands. In this inaugural edition of Florida @Work, you will find examples of how we are succeeding as we work together to raise the bar, both statewide and regionally, for workforce leadership.

 

I hope that as you read Florida @Work, you learn a little more about our ongoing efforts to advance Governor Rick Scott's vision of Florida as the world's top job creator. Please also use the Twitter and Facebook icons below to connect and engage with us regularly.

 

Sincerely,

 

Chris  

Innovative Business Model Drives Performance at Workforce Alliance 

Florida's workforce system continues to play a pivotal role in the expansion and growth of one of South Florida's newest employers, risk mitigation and surveillance software giant  Digital Risk. Earlier this summer, Workforce Florida awarded Digital Risk a Quick Response Training (QRT) grant - matching $1 for every $2.97 invested by the company - which the company will use toward customized training over the next 24 months for new Boca Raton employees as well as new employees at existing locations in Maitland and Jacksonville. QRT allows Digital Risk--and any eligible company -- to choose what training is needed, who delivers it and how. It also is a value-add for employees: QRT trainees' wages increase an average of more than 47 percent within 15 months of training.

An innovative approach to serving business was a key driver in Digital Risk locating in Florida in the first place. The Talent Acquisition unit at Workforce Alliance, the Regional Workforce Board that provides workforce services in Palm Beach County, was invited by the county's Business Development Board to meet with Digital Risk leaders last fall. The team of mostly veteran corporate recruiters -- led by Gerry Genovese, Vice President of Business Services -- pitched their business model to Digital Risk. The executives responded with a request for 200 resumes of pre-screened, industry-relevant candidates with three top choices in three days. 

Genovese and his team worked over the weekend to meet the request, screening 300 resumes, providing 200 qualified candidates and interviewing the three most qualified to ensure they would meet Digital Risk's expectations. 

"During our initial meeting, we learned that we were actually using the same candidate screening software that Digital Risk uses," Genovese said. "Discovering this similarity piqued their curiosity about what we could do for them. In the end, though, knowing Palm Beach County has a ready talent supply played a role in the decision."

The hard work paid off when Digital Risk recommended Boca Raton for its newest site. The result: 350 jobs out of 500 statewide, paying an average $48,000 annually, with an estimated $130 million economic impact in Palm Beach County over the next five years. 

Genovese credits his unit's innovative approach -- a business-to-business, high-performance sales model and efforts to develop relationships with C-level leaders -- with elevating the local board's business credibility.

"We speak and understand the language of business and we work at the speed of business," said Genovese, a former Fortune 500 executive with sales and marketing experience in domestic and international markets. "We don't approach serving businesses with products in mind. We learn what their needs are and tailor products and services to meet those needs."

Genovese, along with Workforce Alliance Director of Transition Services Gene Wheeler, attended the August Workforce Florida Board of Directors meeting  in Pensacola to share this great example of how business-focused service delivery systems are meeting employers' needs.