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Workforce Florida Weekly Update 2-07-07 |
CONTENTS The State & RegionsCrist Announces Florida Disaster Recovery Fund ~
Fund expanded to aid tornado victims: Donate by calling
1-800-825-3786. LADY LAKE – Governor Charlie Crist yesterday expanded
the Florida Disaster Recovery Fund, formerly known as the
Florida Hurricane Relief Fund, to assist in the long-term
needs of Floridians impacted by the deadly tornadoes that
struck Central Florida on February 2, 2007. Governor Crist
also announced the appointment of Pastor Ken Scrubbs of Leesburg
to serve on the fund’s Advisory Council. “Regardless
of whether tragedy strikes in the form a hurricane, tornado
or other disaster, it is crucial for neighbors to help neighbors,” said
Governor Crist. “Just as they have in the past, Floridian’s
will help those in need.” The Florida Disaster Recovery
Fund was originally founded in 2004 to provide assistance
to hurricane victims for losses not covered by immediate
recovery groups, insurance or government funding. The fund,
managed by the Volunteer Florida Foundation, works with non-profit
organizations in affected communities. Extending this fund
to include tornado victims will help survivors in Lake, Seminole,
Sumter and Volusia counties by providing individual assistance
through long-term recovery organizations. “Local decision-making
keeps recovery moving,” said Pastor Scrubbs. “Donors
have a cost-effective way to help neighbors, non-profits
and faith-based groups not eligible for other funding.” All
donations to the Florida Disaster Recovery Fund are tax-deductible
(Florida charitable registration #8536). Donations can be
made securely online by visiting www.VolunteerFloridaFoundation.org
or by calling 1-800-825-3786. Checks are also accepted and
can be made payable to the Florida Disaster Recovery Fund
and mailed to Volunteer Florida Foundation, 401 S. Monroe
Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32301. Since August 2004, the
fund has received more than $23 million in private donations.
These donations have aided more than 300 non-profit organizations.
Over 1.1 million volunteer hours have been donated and over
12,000 homes have been rebuilt. “This fund allows each
Floridian the opportunity to help rebuild lives and communities
after disaster strikes,” said former U.S. Senator Connie
Mack, chairman of the Florida Disaster Recovery Fund’s
Advisory Council. “Governor Crist’s announcement
today expands the use of this important resource to other
disasters that can be equally devastating to our state.” Federal Unemployment Aid Available For Disaster Victims. TALLAHASSEE – Monesia T. Brown, Director of Florida’s Agency for Workforce Innovation, announced that individuals who have lost jobs or businesses as a result of the severe storms and tornadoes of February 1 and 2nd 2007 may be entitled to Disaster Unemployment Assistance benefits. On February 3, 2007, President George W. Bush, in response to a request from Governor Charlie Crist, declared a major disaster for Lake, Seminole, Sumter, and Volusia counties, clearing the way for use of federal funds to provide assistance to individuals affected by the disaster. Although many workers will be covered by the state’s regular unemployment compensation program, those not covered may apply for Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA). This is a federally funded program, which assists individuals who become unemployed as a direct result of a declared disaster and who do not qualify for regular unemployment benefits. The program also covers self-employed individuals, owners of farms and ranches, farm and ranch workers, as well as fishers and others who are not normally covered by state unemployment compensation. The Agency for Workforce Innovation administers the DUA program in Florida with the U.S. Department of Labor and regional workforce boards. Funding for the program is provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Applicants must file for disaster benefits within 30 days, no later than March 6, 2007. To be eligible for either the regular state unemployment compensation program or DUA, the applicant must be a legal resident. To be eligible for DUA benefits, an individual must have exhausted all entitlement to any regular state unemployment benefits and must have been working in or residing in a county for which the disaster has been officially declared. DUA benefits are available to unemployed individuals for up to 26 weeks from the date of the disaster declaration. The 26-weeks assistance period for victims of the storm ends August 4, 2007. Federal regulations provide that the unemployment of an individual is caused by a disaster if the individual: (1) becomes unemployed as a direct result of the disaster; or (2) is unable to reach the place of employment as a direct result of the disaster; or (3) was scheduled to begin work and does not have a job or is unable to reach the job as a direct result of the disaster; or (4) has become the major support for a household because the head of the household has died as a direct result of the disaster; or (5) cannot work because of an injury caused directly by the disaster. Individuals applying for disaster related unemployment assistance will need to have the following information available:
Documentation necessary to support a claim may be faxed to 850-921-3938. Applicant’s Social Security number should appear on all documents submitted). If scheduled to begin work but could not work due to the disaster, have name and address of employer and the date work was scheduled to begin. Beginning Monday, February 5, 2007, applications for DUA may be filed by Internet at the following web site address: www.fluidnow.com (indicate on the application that it is a disaster related unemployment claim). Telephone applications may be filed by calling 1-800-204-2418. Hours of operation are 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM EST, Monday through Friday. Governor Crist Recommends Budget for 2007-08 ~ Responsible spending totals $71.2 billion with increased funding for education, health and human services and public safety. TALLAHASSEE - Governor Charlie Crist and Lt. Governor Jeff Kottkamp has unveiled the Crist/Kottkamp Budget Recommendations for Fiscal Year 2007-08. This year's budget recommendation is $71.2 billion, three percent lower than Fiscal Year 2006-07, and will enable the state to meet future obligations by setting aside $2.35 billion in reserves. The Crist/Kottkamp budget reflects a comprehensive plan to address the people’s priorities for the future. "It is the government’s responsibility to meet its citizen’s needs while living within its means," said Governor Crist. "With the Legislature's support, Florida will remain a safe, healthy and prosperous state. These budget recommendations ensure the public safety of Floridians, provide tax cuts for businesses and families and increase teacher pay. They also relieve property taxes and strengthen Florida’s vibrant economy, natural resources and education.” “The Governor's budget recommendations represent this administration's strong desire to create a budget for the people of Florida that truly represents their needs and concerns," said Lt. Governor Kottkamp. "We are determined to take a common-sense approach to spending and still accomplish the goals that Floridians told us were important to them." The Crist/Kottkamp recommended budget also has many “firsts,” including $20 million for stem cell research aimed at curing degenerative diseases and $32.5 million to establish a paper trail for all votes cast on Election Day. The proposed budget also includes $50 million to provide incentives for research, manufacturing and distribution of ethanol. Details of the Crist/Kottkamp recommended budget are available by visiting “The People’s Budget” at www.thepeoplesbudget.state.fl.us. Boca Raton Community Hospital Receives $75 Million (Posted
by: laurakujawski on Tuesday, January 30, 2007, PNNOnline).
Boca Raton Community Hospital (BRCH) announced that it has
received a $75 million donation from the Schmidt Family Foundation – the
largest gift ever given to a community hospital and the third-largest
among all hospitals and health systems in the United States.
As the first new academic medical center to be established
in the United States in nearly a decade, the hospital will
address an anticipated nationwide shortage of health care
professionals. “Our family is looking forward to bringing
this standard of quality and safety in health care to the
very community in which we live and work and to the U.S.
community at large,” said Richard Schmidt, Chairman
of the Board of Trustees of Boca Raton Community Hospital. “Just
as Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett have ushered
in a new era of large-scale giving on the global level, our
family firmly believes in local activation that will resonate
nationally to benefit as many patients as possible.” A “dream
team” of experts led by John Reiling, Ph.D., MHA, MBA,
a nationally renowned expert in healthcare safety design,
will oversee the planning, design and construction of the
new facility. The state-of-the-art hospital, which is expected
to be completed in 2011, will feature 530 private patient
rooms. The community hospital, known for its medical centers
of excellence, will become a standard for hospital safety
by improving visibility of patients to staff, standardizing
and automating certain tasks and procedures, minimizing physician
fatigue and empowering patients’ families to participate
in patient care. The hospital’s design will combine
best practices in technology, architecture, academia and
patient care to pioneer a new era in hospital safety. The
facility will be located on 38 acres of Florida Atlantic
University’s Boca Raton Campus. Currently, medical
students spend their first two years of training at FAU.
The program will now be expanded to a full four-year track,
giving students the opportunity to receive a doctor of medicine
degree from University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
without having to leave the Boca Raton community area. “This
generous gift from the Schmidt Family Foundation is invaluable
in helping us break ground on one of the most advanced academic
medical facilities in the country, providing the aging population
with the biomedical breakthroughs and clinical expertise
they need,” said Gary Strack, president and CEO of
Boca Raton Community Hospital. “The landmark public-private
partnership among BRCH, FAU and UMMSOM, paired with such
a landmark donation, will bring research investments, job
opportunities and national excellence for decades to come.” Access
this article at: First Annual Fundraiser, The Belly Dance Blitz, for Ben’s Place. Ben’s Place is a Jacksonville area 501 (c) 3 Non Profit organization that serves as a recreational and entertainment venue for adults with developmental and acquired disabilities. The Agency for Person’s with Disabilities (APD) Annual Survey show overwhelmingly that adults with these types of disabilities have little to no opportunities to build social relationships in their community. Even when adults with developmental disabilities have gainful employment, transportation as well as home of their own, they shared in this survey that they are lonely and isolated Integration for adults with disabilities in the workplace has greatly improved, but social relationships that occur naturally are still mostly unattainable for these members of our community. 3 years ago, Ben’s Place arose from this great need and offers weekly get togethers with peers who may also live in social isolation. The mission of Ben’s Place is to provide a safe, wholesome and friendly setting in Northeast Florida for adults with developmental/acquired disabilities that foster community inclusion, social interaction and independence. The membership has grown like wildfire, and the response in the disability community supports the APD survey that socialization is an important part of being a thriving member in society. For more information on Ben’s Place, please visit www.bensplace.org. Our hope is that with this press release, the media will help us to spread the word of our First Annual Fundraiser through PSA’s and articles in their publications, as well as broadcasts. We also hope to spread the word to families and individuals with Developmental or Acquired Disabilities about Ben’s Place Friday Night Club gatherings at our two locations: ARC Duval 4401 Wesconnett Blvd. Jacksonville 32210, and our Beaches Club held at ARC St. Johns at 850 6th Ave. South Jacksonville Beach Suite 500 32250. The First Annual Fundraiser, The Belly Dance Blitz, will be held on April 14, 2007 at 7:00 PM for Ben’s Place at Boomtown. The event will include dozens of dancers and musicians from NE Florida, showcasing many styles of belly dance, as well an authentic full course Middle Eastern Dinner. The doors open at 7:00 PM and the show will end around 11:30 PM. Tickets are available ($100.00 per person or $150.00 per couple) via Pay Pal on the Ben’s Place Web Site. For more information please contact Venessa Fairbairn at 904 377-2927 or via e mail at vfairbairn@worksourcefl.com. The NationAssistant Secretary DeRocco's FY 2008 Budget Briefing Available. NASWA has posted the PowerPoint presentation delivered on February 5 by Assistant Secretary DeRocco to review the Employment and Training Administration's FY 2008 Budget request. Access ETA's FY 2008 Budget Request at: http://www.workforceatm.org/sections/pdf/2007/Budget%20FY08-Final.pdf Fiscal Year 2008 USDOL Budget Released. The Administration's fiscal year 2008 Budget for the nation's workforce investment system runs parallel to the fiscal year 2007 request including a significant rescission (-$335 million) to WIA programs and other proposed reductions. NASWA will distribute additional details on the fiscal year 2008 Budget request over the next two days. For links to a copy of the full USDOL request & ETA budget materials go to: http://www.workforceatm.org/articles/template.cfm?results_art_filename=fy2008budget.htm. Proposed SBA ’08 Budget Ups Small Business Financing
to $28 Billion, Reduces Loan Fees, Increases Most Programs. WASHINGTON – President Bush this week announced a proposed
FY 2008 budget for the U.S. Small Business Administration that
increases financing capacity by 40 percent over business lending
in FY 2006, reduces fees on loans, and provides increased funding
and staff for SBA’s ongoing operational reforms. The
proposal sets overall spending for the year at $814 million,
including $464 million in new budget authority, $329 million
in carryover funds for disaster loans, and $21 million in reimbursable
revenues. This represents a 5 percent increase over the total
FY 2006 appropriations (excluding disaster and Congressional
initiatives) and a 12 percent increase in core operating budget.
The budget will provide funding for more than $1 billion in
loans in the agency’s revamped disaster assistance program,
which has undergone major changes since the 2005 hurricanes
along the Gulf Coast. As a result of those changes, over 98
percent of the 160,000 approved disaster loan recipients have
received all or some of their loans, or chosen not to borrow.
SBA Administrator Steven C. Preston has committed to similar
reviews of SBA’s other programs. “This proposal
represents a solid budget for the SBA and for small businesses,” said
Preston. “In addition to improving our operations, we
will be able to build on the loan volume records set in the
past few years and provide more financing to more small businesses. “Beyond
that, this budget provides for initiatives to improve outreach
to underserved, economically distressed urban and rural markets,
and to veterans. It gives us more procurement center representatives
to help small businesses compete for federal contracts. It
gives us more people and resources to boost our impact on job
creation, business ownership and economic vitality where they
are most needed. “We look forward to working with our
oversight committees in Congress as the budget process moves
forward to make sure the SBA continues to be America’s
small business resource,” Preston said. The budget would
authorize a level of $17.5 billion for the 7(a) Guaranteed
Loan program, $7.5 billion for the Certified Development Company,
or 504, loan program, and $3 billion for venture capital support
under the Small Business Investment company program. It calls
for reducing fees in the 7 (a) and 504 loan programs, allowing
them to continue on the self-funding basis that has enabled
them to produce record numbers of loans without interruption
for more than two years. The proposal also requests continuation
of SBA’s Microloan program on a zero-subsidy basis, allowing
the agency to greatly expand its support to Microlenders across
the country without seeking a new appropriation for the program.
SBA would also discontinue technical assistance funding for
Microlenders, and work with existing technical assistance providers,
including the agency’s Small Business Development Centers,
SCORE counselors, and Women’s Business Centers, to arrange
technical help for microloan clients. On the technical assistance
side, the budget requests more than $87 million for Small Business
Development Centers, almost $12 million for grants to Women’s
Business Centers and nearly $5 million for SCORE. The budget
requests $329 million be made available for the FY 2008 disaster
program from funds left over from special appropriations in
FY 2006. The amount is sufficient to provide $1.06 billion
in disaster loans. Other highlights of the proposed FY 2008
SBA budget include: Grant and Competitive Award Opportunities and NoticesFor additional information go to, visit the External Grant Opportunities page.Featured Opportunity:(none) State Grants(none) Federal Grants(none) Foundation Grants(none) Scholarships/Awards(none) 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 21, 2007 February 22, 2007 Other Meetings/Conferences/Events:
February 8-9, 2007 February 14, 2007 Feb. 26-27, 2007 February 28 - March 2, 2007 March 5-7, 2007 March 13, 2007 April 2nd-5th, 2007 May 29-30, 2007 May 30, 31 & June 1, 2007 June 23-26, 2007 Odds and EndsEntrepreneurshipWeek USA. From February 24 to March 3, 2007, EntrepreneurshipWeek USA will be a collection of thousands of activities, ranging from high school competitions to academic gatherings and local town halls to a national policy summit. More than 700 organizations throughout the country have answered the call, planning activities in all fifty states. The underlying message of EntrepreneurshipWeek USA is one that resonates with people of all ages, of all ethnic backgrounds and from all walks of life. It is a celebration and an acknowledgement of what has made America great from the start. Its impact will be significant for not only those involved, but for the future generations of entrepreneurs as well as the economies to which they contribute. Learn more and access links to Florida activities at: http://www.entrepreneurshipweekusa.com/home-flash.asp Change a light, change the world . . . If every American
home replaced just one light bulb with an ENERGY STAR Compact
Fluorescent Light Bulbs (CFL), we would save enough energy
to light more than 2.5 million homes for a year and prevent
greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of nearly 800,000
cars. These are not the same bulbs you may have tried when
they first came on the market. Check them out at Lowes, Home
Depot, WalMart, etc. They are affordable, retrofit into your
existing fixtures and provide excellent light! http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=cfls.pr_cfls. Quote for the Week:“It seemed the world was divided into good and bad people. The good ones slept better... while the bad ones seemed to enjoy the waking hours much more. ” Woody Allen |
