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Workforce Florida Weekly Update 4-11-07 |
CONTENTS The State & RegionsNew Center to Boost Training of Logistics and Distribution Workers in Florida. LAKE CITY — Lake City Community College has launched the Employ Florida Banner Center for Logistics and Distribution with a $500,000 grant from Workforce Florida, Inc. The new initiative aims to develop a pipeline of well-qualified, entry-level workers and improve the skills of the industry’s current workforce. Today, workforce, economic development and education leaders joined logistics and distribution industry executives at TDT, Inc./Annett Holdings, Inc.’s Lake City Terminal to outline plans for one of the newest Employ Florida Banner Centers. Lake City Community College’s education partners include the University of North Florida, Okaloosa County School District CHOICE Institutes, Polk Community College and Florida Community College at Jacksonville. “The Banner Center for Logistics and Distribution demonstrates our state’s commitment to strengthen the workforce in an industry that is vital to just about every other business sector in Florida,” said Katherine E. Wilson, Chairman of Workforce Florida. “Each time I have the privilege to mark the start of a new Banner Center, I feel a great deal of pride for our state.” The center is one of 10 new Employ Florida Banner Centers aimed at addressing the statewide workforce demands of high-growth, high-wage industries in Florida. It is also the first Employ Florida Banner Center located in one of the state’s Rural Areas of Critical Economic Concern. A $6.2 million initiative, Employ Florida Banner Centers are a top strategic priority of the entire workforce system, including Workforce Florida, the Agency for Workforce Innovation, the state’s 24 regional workforce boards and nearly 100 One-Stop Career Centers. “Under Governor Charlie Crist’s leadership, Florida is focused on strategic economic sectors that are critical to our growth,” said Monesia T. Brown, Director of the Agency for Workforce Innovation. “With solid growth and average wages 32 percent above the state average, logistics and distribution meets this criteria. The new Banner Center, located in Columbia County, is in the perfect location to support growth in this industry, help diversify Florida’s economy statewide and meet demand for new skills.” Lake City Community College and its partners are fast at work. Using the grant, the college has begun offering leadership skills training to supply chain workers. Later this month, it plans to start offering technical writing training to those employed in the industry. A new $100,000, state-of-the-art truck driving simulator also is scheduled to arrive on the rural college’s campus within a few weeks. The simulator will be used to refresh the driving-safety skills of Florida truck drivers and train prospective and new hires. Additionally, the Banner Center is conducting a statewide assessment to, among other things, create a central database of available training statewide, identify gaps in training resources and curricula, and evaluate the short-term and long-term demand for workers in the industry. The Employ Florida Banner Center also will develop new curricula based on high-demand skills for employees working in areas such as transportation, warehousing, inventory management, material handling and packaging. “Lake City Community College and its partners are ready to build on our individual areas of expertise and course offerings to create a statewide resource that will deliver cutting-edge training for workers in this critical industry,” said Dr. Charles W. Hall, President of Lake City Community College. In September 2006, Florida’s logistics and distribution sector employed more than a half million people in about 53,000 locations in Florida. The 2005 annual average wage for workers in the industry was $48,669, compared to the state’s total annual average wage of $36,804. And from September 2005 to September 2006, the number of new jobs in the industry grew by about 9,600. "With the growth in Florida, and the northeast region in particular, as well as advances in technology, our state will be well served by this new Banner Center, which will help raise the quality of technical expertise in our industry," said Bobby Steele, General Manager of the Wal-Mart Distribution Center in Macclenny. "Wal-Mart chose to support the Banner Center because it will provide an environment that will enable future leaders to meet the upcoming challenges in logistics." In addition to logistics and distribution, Workforce Florida has launched centers in the past year to develop the state’s workforces in aviation and aerospace, biotechnology, construction, energy, financial services, health sciences, homeland security and defense and manufacturing. There also is an Employ Florida Banner Center aimed at expanding and improving the quality of career education programs in secondary schools. All of the centers are charged with cultivating partnerships among regional and statewide workforce, education, economic development and industry leaders to expand training in these key sectors — a top priority of Florida’s economic development plan. Each center is part of the Employ Florida network of state and local workforce partners that provide workforce development services and programs. For more information on Employ Florida Banner Centers, please go to www.EmployFlorida.com. Florida Sports Foundation Announces Grant Recipients. TALLAHASSEE – The
Florida Sports Foundation (FSF) awarded 23 grants totaling
$165,500 to various sporting events throughout the State
of Florida at its March 2007 Quarterly Board of Directors
meeting. The sale of professional license plates throughout
the state provides the source of funding for the FSF Board
to award funds to statewide sports commissions hosting the
events. Sporting events bring additional tourism to Florida
causing a significant out-of-state economic impact on an
annual basis. Since 1996, the FSF has been assisting communities
around the state in their efforts to attract sport events
and opportunities. This is the third disbursement of grants
in the 2006-2007 fiscal year for the FSF. Including the latest
23 grants, there have been a total of 64 grants totaling
$504,000 for the current fiscal year. The 23 events granted
funds are expected to bring over $23.5 million dollars into
Florida’s economy and over 50,000 tourists to the Sunshine
State in just four months. The events begin in April and
end in early August and are sprinkled throughout the state.
Panama City Beach, Daytona, Miami and many other cities will
be home to the events awarded grants. Out of 23 different
events there are 12 sports represented. Events such as the
AAU National Taekwondo Championships, the Atlantic Coast
Conference Baseball Tournament and the US Youth Soccer Region
III President’s Cup are expected to bring the largest
contribution to the economy. The AAU National Taekwondo Championships,
in Fort Lauderdale July 2-7, are projected to bring in $5.5
million and 8,400 tourists to Florida. In 2006, the National
Championships were held in Tennessee and brought in just
over $5.5 million in tourism dollars. The Atlantic Coast
Conference Baseball Tournament from May 23-27 in Jacksonville
will have eight schools competing for the ACC championship.
The event is projected to bring in $2.7 million and more
than 6,900 out-of-town guests. Following close behind are
the figures for the US Youth Soccer Region III President’s
Cup. The Cup will be in Tampa June 8-10 and is expected to
contribute $2.6 million to the economy and attract 8,000
out-of-town guests for the weekend. The following 23 grants,
totaling $165,500, were awarded at the Florida Sports Foundation’s
March 2007 Board of Directors Meeting: Eight Pilot Sites Selected for the Supporting Healthy Marriage Project. Eight organizations around the country, including University of Central Florida in Orlando, have been selected by the federal Administration for Children and Families (ACF), in conjunction with MDRC to run early demonstration programs of voluntary marriage education services for low-income married couples with children, as part of the Supporting Healthy Marriage (SHM) research project. SHM is the first large-scale, multi-site, multiyear, rigorous evaluation of marriage education programs for low-income married couples. During the pilot phase of the SHM demonstration, each emerging site will work with the SHM team to plan and implement a comprehensive intervention that delivers curriculum-based group workshops on marital relationship skills to low-income married couples. Programs also will include links to services that may help low-income couples address barriers to healthy marriage, such as problems with employment, health, or housing insecurity. In addition, the programs will include longer-term marriage education activities that reinforce the relationship skills taught in the core program. http://www.mdrc.org/announcement_hp_119.html. Board of Education Approves Method for Calculating Kindergarten Readiness Rate Rule. The Florida State Board of Education recently approved the method for calculating the Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) Provider Readiness Rate. Florida Kindergarten Readiness Screener (FLKRS) data will be used to calculate the readiness rate for private and public providers participating in Florida’s VPK education program. Later this spring, parents will be able to access the rate for VPK providers at https://vpk.fldoe.org or www.dcf.state.fl.us/childcare, to make more informed decisions when choosing a program for their child. To read the full story, visit: http://fldoe.org/news/2007/2007_03_20.asp. The NationNASWA Fiscal Year 2008 Budget Comparison Chart Available. The chart compares fiscal year 2007 appropriations to the Administration's fiscal year 2008 budget. Download FY 2008 Budget Comparison Chart at: http://www.workforceatm.org/sections/pdf/2007/FY%202008%20-%20Budget%20Comparison%20Chart.pdf. ETA Announces State Allotments for PY 2007 for WIA
Title I Programs, Wagner-Peyser, Tax Credit Programs. ETA has announced
states' allotments for PY 2007 (July 1, 2007-June 30, 2008)
for WIA Title I Youth, Adults and Dislocated Worker Activities
programs; additional PY 2007 funding from WIA Section 173(e)
for eligible states; final allotments for ES activities under
the Wagner-Peyser Act for PY 2007; and Work Opportunity Tax
Credit and Welfare-to-Work Tax Credit program allotments for
FY 2007. You can find this article on the Workforce ATM at: U.S. Department of Labor Announces Competitions For
$3.6 Million in Funding For Grassroots Organizations. The U.S. Department
of Labor's Employment and Training Administration today announced
two competitions for grants totaling $3.6 million for faith-based
and community organizations to help members of hard-to-serve
populations prepare for and succeed in employment. Grant and Competitive Award Opportunities and NoticesFor current information, visit the External Grant Opportunities page.Featured Opportunity:(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. April 18, 2007 April 26 – 27, 2007 May 17, 2007 Other Meetings/Conferences/Events:
April 14 – 17, 2007 April 24, 2007 April 30, 2007 May 3-4, 2007 May 8 – 11, 2007 May 14-15, 2007 May 20-23, 2007 May 21-22, 2007 May 29-30, 2007 May 30, 31 & June 1, 2007 June 4 - 5th, 2007 June 4-7, 2007 June 13-15, 2007 June 23-26, 2007 July 17-19, 2007 Odds and EndsMinorities in Business: A Demographic Review of Minority Business Ownership. This report provides information on minorities in the work force and minority-owned businesses, including minority population statistics, their labor force participation, age, education, occupation, work schedules, average personal and household income, business ownership, and business dynamics. It is an update of previous studies on minority-owned businesses and primarily uses data from the 2002 Survey of Business Owners (SBO) from the U.S. Census Bureau. Among the findings are the following:
From SOUTHERN COMPASS -- APRIL 10, 2007.
All charts from State of Working America now online. Preparing
a PowerPoint presentation? Distributing lecture notes for
your students? Looking for an interesting graph for your
newsletter or blog? EPI has you covered. EPI's 10th edition
of The State of Working America (2006/2007) was officially
released in January, and for the first time we are making
every table and figure from this important volume available
for free download in multiple high-resolution formats. That's
over 300 charts detailing the trends in incomes, jobs, wages,
wealth, and poverty, placing them in their historical, regional,
and international contexts. Visit www.StateofWorkingAmerica.org and go to 'Download Tables and Figures.' Quote for the Week:“Always bring money along with your complaints.” Plautus |
