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Partnering for Progress
Industry and education combine forces to ensure a skilled and relevant workforce.
One-Stop Centers Your Local ConnectionThe nearly 100 One-Stop Centers throughout the state are the “bricks-and-mortar” entry points to Florida’s comprehensive workforce system. Here, employers and job seekers alike can find answers to their employment questions as well as direct access to a wide array of workforce services — many of which are available free of charge. One-Stop Centers offer:
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One System, Many Services
Considering that for five straight years Florida has led the nation in job creation and is today ranked 4th among all states for total employment, it should come as no surprise that workforce services here have been fine-tuned and fully coordinated to better serve the needs of employers and employees.
Under the “Employ Florida” umbrella are two partners at the state level: Workforce Florida Inc., which oversees and monitors the administration of the state’s workforce policy, programs and services, and the Agency for Workforce Innovation, which administers workforce funds, houses the Office of Labor Market Statistics and serves as the designated U.S. Census data center for Florida.
At the local level, 24 regional workforce boards with significant business representation have responsibility for implementing workforce programs in their communities, including the oversight of nearly 100 One-Stop Centers across the state, where services are delivered directly to employers and job seekers.
It’s All About Teamwork
Imagine that a workforce system would one day be partnered with business to develop relevant training programs for much-needed industry-specific skills and with educational institutions to deliver them. In Florida, it’s already happening.
At 10 Employ Florida Banner Centers throughout the state, programs that focus on creating and providing up-to-date training for workers in industries that have been deemed critical to sustaining and growing Florida’s diverse economy are up and running. Thanks to the programs offered at these centers, hundreds of new and incumbent workers are acquiring the cutting-edge skills they need and earning industry certifications.
Nine of the 10 Banner Centers are based at Florida community colleges or universities, where educational institutions, industry representatives and workforce and economic development professionals come together for the purpose of providing industry-specific skills training. In addition to serving as clearinghouses for companies that need trained workers, these centers create relevant curricula for training both entry-level and advanced workers and ensure that the skills training offered in Florida meets industry standards.
The 10th Banner Center has a slightly different, albeit complementary, mission. Led by Okaloosa County School District, the Employ Florida Banner Center for Career Academies is charged with providing technical support to school districts in Florida that desire to start new career academies or overhaul existing ones in secondary schools; develop standards and accountability measures for career education programs; and research and highlight best practices in career education in order to help Florida maintain and improve its globally competitive workforce.
The creation of the Banner Center for Career Academies is particularly timely in light of the Florida Career and Professional Act, which was signed into law on July 1, 2007. The act requires all Florida school districts to develop, in collaboration with local workforce boards and postsecondary institutions, strategic five-year plans during the coming school year that include provision for at least one career academy to be operational in each district at the beginning of the 2008-2009 school year. (See article on Education for details.)
Business Beat - Week of May 3rd
