 |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
Workforce Florida Weekly Update 1-25-06 |
CONTENTS The State & RegionsGovernor Bush appoints Katherine Wilson as Chairman of Workforce Florida Board of Directors. TALLAHASSEE- Governor Jeb Bush announced Katherine Wilson as the new chairman of the Workforce Florida Board of Directors. Ms. Wilson, of Jacksonville, is the assistant vice president of CSX Corporation headquartered in Jacksonville. She has been a member of the Workforce Florida board since February 2005 and will fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Tramm Hudson. Ms. Wilson served, by gubernatorial appointment, on the Florida Universal Prekindergarten Education Advisory Council and is a member and Past-Chair of the Duval County School Readiness Coalition. Other civic and community service includes Episcopal Children Services, United Way of Northeast Florida, Girls Incorporated of Jacksonville and the Jacksonville Women’s Network. She is a member of the Leadership Jacksonville Class of 1992. Ms. Wilson obtained both a business degree and her Juris Doctorate from the University of Baltimore in Maryland where she started her 20 year career with CSX. Workforce Florida, Inc. (WFI) is the state's chief workforce policy organization and principal architect in the efforts to meet the current and future workforce needs and challenges of Florida's businesses and citizens. Learn more about Workforce Florida at: www.workforceflorida.com. WFI is a state partner, along with the Agency for Workforce Innovation (AWI), in the Employ Florida affiliate network of 24 business-led regional workforce boards and nearly 100 one-stop centers that provide employment solutions throughout Florida. Learn more about Florida’s workforce resources and solutions at www.EmployFlorida.com. CSX owns companies providing rail, intermodal and rail-to-truck transload services that are among the nation's leading transportation companies, connecting more than 70 river, ocean and lake ports, as well as more than 200 short line railroads. Its principal operating company, CSX Transportation Inc., operates the largest railroad in the eastern United States with a 22,000-mile rail network linking commercial markets in 23 states, the District of Columbia, and two Canadian provinces. CSXT headquarters are in Jacksonville, Fla. Florida’s hardest hit communities to receive funds for infrastructure and economic recovery. TALLAHASSEE - Governor Jeb Bush announced that Florida will receive an award of $82.9 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to fund critical recovery needs following a second unprecedented hurricane season. The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) disaster relief funds are a portion of the $11.5 billion allocated nationwide by the federal government following destructive Hurricanes Dennis, Katrina, Rita and Wilma. “I thank President Bush and the U.S. Departments of Housing and Urban Development and Homeland Security for continuing to support Florida’s recovery efforts following a record eight hurricanes in 15 months,” said Governor Bush. “These funds will assist our local governments to rebuild impacted communities and ensure Florida’s healthy economy continues to grow.” Using HUD criteria for the allocation of these recovery funds, the Florida Department of Community Affairs (DCA) will work with partner agencies to recommend a plan for distribution. Based on careful analysis of hurricane damage assessment data, DCA will recommend actions to Governor Bush that address the needs of Florida’s most impacted communities. “In partnership with HUD and local governments, we will continue to move recovery funds quickly into the hands of Florida’s hardest-hit communities,” said DCA Secretary Thaddeus Cohen. “Disaster recovery is a challenging process, and DCA is committed to working with state and local leaders to ensure our communities are rebuilt stronger and more resistant to future damage.” Last year, Florida received $100.9 million in HUD disaster relief grants - more than 67 percent of all funds awarded nationally - to rebuild from the devastating 2004 Hurricane Season. Funds were distributed to the fifteen hardest-hit counties to aid ongoing recovery efforts. To date, 160 CDBG recovery projects throughout Florida are underway, including a new special needs shelter, repaired and improved wastewater facilities, economic development projects, new affordable housing and mitigation initiatives. Recently, Governor Bush and Lt. Governor Toni Jennings announced new hurricane preparedness, response and recovery budget recommendations. Governor Bush has marked establishing a “Culture of Preparedness” as a top priority this year, ensuring Floridians and Florida local governments take necessary safety measures as we prepare for the 2006 Hurricane Season. For more information on the CDBG disaster recovery funds and these new hurricane budget recommendations, please visit www.myflorida.com. For information on creating a Family Disaster Preparedness Plan, please visit www.floridadisaster.org. Governor encourages Floridians to celebrate National
Mentoring Day. TALLAHASSEE- Governor Jeb Bush lauded Florida’s
mentoring effort, now totaling a record number of 206,292
active mentors across the state. Despite new demands on volunteerism
created by two unprecedented hurricane seasons, the number
of mentors in Florida has increased from last year’s
total of 204,207. The recent assessment was made through
the annual Prevalence of Mentoring Survey, conducted statewide
by the Florida Mentoring Partnership, which is administered
by the Volunteer Florida Foundation. “As we celebrate
the power of mentoring on National Mentoring Day, I am pleased
to see the number of mentors in our state continue to grow,
and I commend Floridians for their commitment to bettering
the lives of our youth.” said Governor Bush. “I
encourage all Floridians to enrich the life of a child by
volunteering to become a mentor.” In addition to today’s
announcement, The Florida State University recently completed
its fourth annual overview titled Mentoring in Florida, School
Year 2003-2004, which reports the education gains of mentored
students. Key research findings for Big Brothers Big Sisters
(BBBS) and Take Stock in Children (TSIC) mentoring programs
include: New initiative arms districts with funds and incentives
to attract needed teachers. MIAMI - Governor Jeb Bush and
Lt. Governor Toni Jennings joined by Education Commissioner
John L. Winn, state officials, local leaders and teachers
at North Miami Middle School announced a comprehensive initiative
to recruit and retain high-quality teachers. They are recommending
$239 million in the 2006-2007 budget to fund incentives to
attract teachers to Florida and draw students to the teaching
profession. The goal of the plan is to reward Florida’s
teachers and recruit 31,800 new teachers to meet a growing
demand. “Next to parents, teachers are the most important
influence on a student’s ability to achieve academic
success,” said Governor Bush. “Lt. Governor Jennings
and I are committed to securing the funding necessary to
attract not only the quantity of teachers we need, but also
high-quality teachers who can lead our students to higher
levels of achievement. The initiative will appeal to existing
and aspiring teachers while giving districts flexibility
in how the funds are allocated. In addition to financial
incentives, the plan will increase teachers’ efficiency
and effectiveness by providing a laptop computer for every
teacher. “By using strategies at the state and local
level, we will attract high-quality teachers to Florida,” said
Commissioner Winn. “We know that a major contributing
factor to student success is the quality of the teacher.
Most teachers enter the profession because of their desire
to teach. Now we can show them that there is no better place
in the nation to achieve that goal than Florida.” AWI releases Florida's employment/unemployment report for December 2005. Florida’s unemployment rate once again hit a record low in December 2005 dropping to 3.3%. The number of unemployed Floridians is down nearly 26 percent from a year ago. Strong job growth continues as the state added 248,100 jobs over the year in December, growing at 3.3 percent, more than twice the national rate. The national rate of growth was 1.5 percent for the same period. Based on the latest available data, Florida leads the nation in the number of new jobs created and has the fastest rate of job growth among the ten most populous states. The state’s seasonally adjusted December 2005 unemployment rate was 3.3 percent, down from the revised rate of 3.6 percent in November and down by 1.3 percentage points from 4.6 percent a year ago. Florida's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for December 2005 of 3.3 percent was 1.6 percentage points lower than the national rate of 4.9 percent. Florida continues to see the rate of job growth exceed other comparable states. Based on data from November 2005, the latest month for which comparable data are available from other states, Florida led all states in the number of new jobs created and had the fastest rate of annual job growth among the 10 most populous states. Solid growth continued in Manufacturing which gained 5,100 jobs (+1.3 percent) over the year. Durable goods manufacturing gained 4,300 jobs, mainly in transportation equipment manufacturing (+3,400 jobs, +8.1 percent). Durable Goods employment, which makes up about two-thirds of the manufacturing industry, has seen positive growth since April 2004. The Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-Miami Beach MSA led the state in employment growth (+55,500 jobs, +2.4 percent), followed by the Orlando and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater MSAs with over-the-year job growth in December 2005 of +42,100 jobs and +32,400 jobs, respectively. The county with the lowest unemployment rate in December was Wakulla County at 2.1%. Hendry County was the highest at 5.3%. For the full report go to: http://www.labormarketinfo.com/library/press/release.pdf. The NationCQ Today Midday Update – Wednesday, January
25, 2006, 2:20 pm.
Access the full stories at: www.cq.com Thousands of students to produce nearly 2,000 affordable
homes. WASHINGTON – Thousands of low-income young people will
return to school and begin new careers in the homebuilding
trades because of $58 million in grants announced today by
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson. Three
organizations in Florida will receive grants totaling $1.5
for the state. The grants are part of HUD's Youthbuild Program
to offer job training and leadership skills to an estimated
4,300 young people while putting them back on a path toward
graduation. These grants will also help train them for a future
in the construction trades while producing nearly 2,000 homes
for lower income families, many facing homelessness. New publication explains tax law changes related to recent hurricanes. WASHINGTON — The IRS has issued a new publication today explaining changes to the tax law and relief provisions available to those affected by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. Publication 4492, Information for Taxpayers Affected by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma, is available on IRS.gov and paper copies will be available in about two weeks. This new publication will list the disaster areas for each hurricane and explain which areas are eligible for administrative relief from the IRS and which areas receive special tax breaks under recently enacted provisions of the tax law. The publication provides information for individuals regarding how to claim unreimbursed losses, the tax favored use of retirement savings, and new rules regarding charitable giving. The publication not only provides information useful to individuals but highlights the changes businesses need to know about, such as a special depreciation allowance for qualified Gulf Opportunity Zone property, an increase in the amount affected businesses can expense instead of depreciating and new net operating loss (NOL) rules for losses in the GO Zone. Publication 4492, like other IRS forms and publications, is available at www.IRS.gov. NASWA Workforce Bulletin Headlines – January 20, 2006:
For the complete stories go to: http://www.workforceatm.org/sections/members/bulletin/ Grant and Competitive Award Opportunities and NoticesFor additional information go to, visit the External Grant Opportunities page.Featured Opportunity:(none) State Grants(none) Federal GrantsJob Opportunities for Low-Income Individuals (JOLI) Program Early Reading First Program Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (Gear-Up) Family Centered Substance Abuse Treatment Grants for Adolescents and their Families Foundation GrantsDollar General Literacy Foundation RFP MetLife Foundation Bridge Builders Grant Program Affordable Housing and Healthy Community/ Wildland Forests Grants 2006 Project Orange Thumb Scholarships/AwardsPurpose Prize for Social Innovators over 60 Upcoming Meetings, Conferences and
Events
Workforce Florida Board and Related Meetings Schedule:For up-to-date WFI board meeting info please check the calendar at the WFI website. February 9–10, 2006 February 15, 2006 February 16, 2006 Other Meetings/Conferences/Events:
February 27 - March 1, 2006 May 15-26, 2006
For more information, go to www.ncfrpc.org [Click on “Upcoming Events” and then “Rural Tourism and Economic Development Summit May 2006”] or call Jayne Moraski 352-955-2200 x.106 or via email moraski@ncfrpc.org. USDOL’s Workforce Tools of the Trade Workforce Investment Systemwide Events Page. http://www.workforcetools.org/calendar.asp Odds and EndsNational Center For Educational Statistics releases
public education report. This report contains data from the Common
Core of Data (CCD) non-fiscal 2003-04 state, local education
agency, and school surveys. The report presents data about
the students enrolled in public education, including the
number of students by grade and the number receiving special
education, migrant, or English language learner services.
Some tables disaggregate the student data by racial/ethnic
group or community characteristics such as rural - urban.
The numbers and types of teachers, other education staff,
schools, and local education agencies are also reported.
To download, view and print the publication as a pdf file,
please visit: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2006307. Is Manufactured Housing a Good Alternative? (HUD USER News).
Manufactured housing has long been an alternative to traditional "stick-built" housing,
especially for lower income families, but the value of this
alternative has at times been controversial. Now, evidence
from American Housing Survey data collected between 1993
and 2001 serves as the basis for exploring the merits of
manufactured housing as a viable alternative for low- income
households in a new study, "Is Manufactured Housing
a Good Alternative for Low-Income Families? Evidence from
the American Housing Survey." The report initially compares
rental housing, traditional owned housing, and owned manufactured
housing in terms of three different dimensions: cost, affordability,
and quality of homes and neighborhoods. Subsequently, the
factors that influence neighborhood and structural quality
rankings and changes in the rankings over time are determined.
The factors affecting household mobility (length of stay)
rates and the extent to which the effects on neighborhood
stability differ for the three dwelling types are also explored.
Finally, the appreciation of owned manufactured housing is
contrasted with that of owned conventional housing. Comparisons
are made in property value between three categories of ownership:
manufactured housing in which both the land and structure
are owned, manufactured housing in which only the structure
is owned, and conventional homeownership. From SOUTHERN COMPASS -- JANUARY 24, 2006:
Quote for the Week:"Good
communication is as stimulating as black coffee and just
as hard to sleep after." |
