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Greetings!
I've been thinking about "Just Add One," the National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB) campaign to add jobs into the economy. Haven't heard about it? Well, the idea is if every small employer in the community could just add one job and hire one person, the unemployment rate would drop significantly and the community would benefit from the added wages and the effects would be more widespread impacting the local area in many positive ways.
My question was just how could a small employer, many still struggling to get their numbers back up to pre-recession levels, spend the money to hire anyone else? My first thought was, "they can't" even though many could actually benefit from that extra employee. The reality may be not that we can't afford to hire, but that we can't afford not to. To see if that may be the case for your company, ask yourself these questions:
1. Is there any department where we are spending money on overtime?
2. Are we using Temps?
3. What duties/processes were we doing in 2007 that we just quit doing in the cut back? And, would they add value to our customers - read as "profits" - if we re-visualized them to fit today's needs?
4. Are our core employees tired? Burnt out?
5. Are we missing our quality targets?
6. Are we having increased customer complaints?
If you are thinking it would be nice to have the extra help, but aren't sure how to prove the return on investment, the good news is you don't have to figure it out on your own.
Workforce Connection is ready to help in a variety of ways including programs that subsidize your new worker's transition and training into your workplace. Workforce Connection's Business Development Team can partner with your organization to provide comprehensive, doable, employment solutions, whether you want to hire one new employee or 100.
One person can make a positive difference. Just Add One.
Darlene Goddard, Board Chair
Workforce Connection
and Executive Director of HR
Winco Mfg., LLC |
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Spotlight: Nature Coast RV
'It's All About Building Relationships'
Building a growing, family-owned business is about building - and keeping - relationships. Doing so depends on a staff that understands the importance of customer service.
"Customer service is number one," said Nancy Fife, co-owner and general manager of Nature Coast RV outside Crystal River. "It's more important than anything because without customers, you've got nothing."
But what do you do when you don't have time to search through scads of resumes and applications that may not turn up the job candidates you need? Fife said she turns to Workforce Connection for excellent customer service that's fast and easy and nets results.
Find out why Fife says Nature Coast RV will continue to rely on Workforce Connection to build the company that builds relationships.
>>>Click here to read Nature Coast RV's complete Success Story
Pictured: Nature Coast RV's co-owners Nancy Fife, general manager, and Randy Fife, president.
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Happenings Around the Region
Second Annual Spring Fling Job Fair
Sporting a suit and tie, with resumes in hand and questions at the ready, 24-year-old Scott Ivey of Inverness was one of 150 job seekers who attended the Job Fair on March 27 at the College of Central Florida's Citrus campus in Lecanto. The Florida Southern College graduate said he met with several of the 17 employers on hand and generated "alot of interesting potential." Ivey, who currently commutes to Orlando where he works at Disney World, is interested in finding something equally magic closer to home.
Ivey is a good example of what Denise LaSota, executive director of the Health Center at Brentwood, said she encountered during the job fair. "We met some great folks and found several who were excellent for posititons that are hard to fill," LaSota said.
The job fair, held in partnership with CF's Citrus campus, was the third held in the last year in Lecanto. Jordan Steelfox, recuitment specialist at Workforce's Inverness office, said it attracted a "good mix of employers from different industries and a nice variety of job seekers, from recent college grads to professionals."
Workforce Connection's next job fair is being planned for early May at CF's Ocala campus. Details will be in the April/May edition of Employer Connection and on the Workforce Connection website.
HUGS for Phoenix Rising Youth Build Project
 Construction of the fourth Pheonix Rising Youth Build project has moved into Phase IV -installation of the roof - with use of an innovative Horizontal Under-eave Guardrail System (HUGS). Through Phoenix Rising, 15 disadvantaged older youth will have the opportunity to obtain academic and construction skills, increase their self-est eem, and get a new perspective on life. The project also helps the community and provides a home for deserving homeowners. The project was spearheaded by the Ocala Police Department in partnership with Habitat for Humanity of Marion County, Workforce Connection, the City of Ocala, Henkels & McCoy and myriad other community partners. Workforce Connection provides funding for the initiative from the US Department of Labor earmarked for training and employment.
STEM/Targeted Industry Scholarships for HS Grads
Workforce Connection will award up to $105,000 in scholarships to regional high school graduates who plan to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, math (STEM) or technical occupations that support the local economy. The scholarship program provides two scholarships up to $3,500 each for students in each of the public high schools in Workforce Connection's region of Citrus, Levy and Marion counties. These scholarships can be used for training in two-year community college or technical school programs.
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About Us
 Mission: Workforce Connection brings together citizens, employers and educational providers to develop programs to support high-quality education/training and employment services to meet regional workforce needs.
The regional workforce board sets policy and directs expenditures of more than $8 million in funds that underwrite services provided through the Workforce Connection offices.
Workforce Connection is the local, business-led organization that plans and coordinates quality employment and training services for businesses and individual career seekers in Citrus, Levy and Marion counties.
Each year, approximately 1,500 businesses and more than 36,000 career seekers receive services through the Workforce Connection. Services include professional and technical recruitment, training, targeted talent marketplaces (job fairs) and financial incentives.
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Employment Update
The February 2013 unemployment rate for the region was 8.5 percent, down 0.6 percent over the month and 2.1 percent lower than the same time last year.
According to the March 29 release by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, the unemployment rate for Marion County was 8.4 percent, down 0.7 percent since January and 2.4 percent lower than in February 2012. Citrus County's unemployment rate dropped from 9.3 to 8.5 percent and was 1.9 percent lower than last February. Levy County's unemployment rate of 8.4 percent fell from 9.0 percent and dropped 1.8 percent over the year.
Read the Regional Report
Read the Statewide Report
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Employer Trends
During the month of February, a total of 467 employers posted 1,443 open positions with Workforce Connection, representing a 36.5 percent increase in job postings over the year. Highlights for each of the region's counties:
* Citrus County employers (133) posted 227 open jobs, a 22 percent increase in employers since February 2012. Also, there was a 2 percent increase in the number of new employers posting jobs.
* Levy County saw a 37.5 percent increase in the number of employers with open jobs and a 3 percent increase in the number of job postings.
* Marion County employers (312) posted 1,180 open jobs, a 4 percent increase over the year in postings.
Also in February, Workforce Connection placed 1,036 individuals in jobs for a placement rate of 17.53 percent. The average placement rate for Florida was 13 percent.
Last year, Workforce Connection helped 10,465 people find jobs.
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Citrus County New MSA
Citrus County is now a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) and one of three new metro areas in Florida. The new Homosassa MSA is joined by The Villages MSA (Sumter County) and Sebring MSA (Highlands County). Three other metro areas have had geography changes and three other MSAs had name changes only. The Ocala (Marion County) MSA is unchanged.
Labor market information programs, such as Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) for the new MSAs may not be available until 2014 or 2015.
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Mobile Resources
Our new Mobile Resource Unit is available to assist employers with hiring events/job fairs, onsite workshops and training of employees, outplacement services and more. To request mobile resources at your business, contact Jonathan Delicate at 352-239-3616 or 800-746-9950, ext. 1933.
>>>Click here for more information.
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NetWorker Bulletin
If you missed the latest issues of the NetWorker
bulletin, or if you'd like to pass the information along to those interested in hot jobs and top talent, you can find every issue on our website.
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