As a spin-off of the recent Workforce Florida competitive competition for FBCOs to provide entrepreneurial training for minorities, veterans and individuals with disabilities (see http://www.workforceflorida.com/rfp/rfp_archive.htm ), Workforce Florida Inc. has just awarded an intermediaries grant to The Bridge, Inc. a faith-based organization based in Tallahassee. The contract for $60,000 ends in August, 2005, and calls for deliverables including:

- a plan for outreach to FBCOs in 6 Regional Workforce Areas,
- consultation and agreement with the respective Regional Workforce Boards and One-Stop Providers on local outreach and linkages,
- training/technical assistance to the participating FBCOs, including instructions on participating in local and state procurement of services/products by FBCOs, and
- a directory of FBCOs participating in the six regions, a description of their services, an evaluation of the outreach project and recommendations for improvement.

Rev. Robert Provit is the Director of the Bridge and will soon be contacting Executive Directors of RWBs to determine interest in participating in this project. WFI has not attempted to select targeted RWBs in the contract, but all are encouraged to cooperate with Rev. Provit, and if you are affirmatively interested in this effort, feel free to initiate contact. His email address is above in the cc. line.