CareerEdge Receives Sarasota County Schools’ Outstanding Business Partner Award

CareerEdge Receives Sarasota County Schools’ Outstanding Business Partner Award

SARASOTA, Fla. (May 12, 2022) — CareerEdge Funders Collaborative, the workforce development program of the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce, recently received recognition from Sarasota County Schools with the 2022 Outstanding Business Partner Award.  The award, coming from the Commissioner of the Florida Department of Education, recognizes outstanding business partners that support students through their work with individual schools or school systems.  Starting in 1987, the Florida Education Foundation has celebrated the commitment between businesses and their school districts. The goal of the awards is to recognize leaders and partners who have shown commitment to positive change and new approaches to improving the academic performance of students in Florida.

CareerEdge was submitted for this award because of the work done with Suncoast Technical College (STC) on the Tiny Home project.  The two-year project was a combined effort between CareerEdge and STC to allow students to learn construction-related skills by building a tiny home on the school campus.  185 students earned a total of 145 industry-recognized certifications throughout the course of the project.  This project will continue to serve as a rolling promotional center to encourage skilled trades education and careers to K-12 students and families in the community.

“We are so honored to receive this award this year. Our partnership has been long-standing with STC and adding in the Tiny Home project deepened our collaboration. Together, we are training the future generation of skilled workers,” says Kristi Hoskinson, vice president of CareerEdge.

As this year’s district winner, CareerEdge is now nominated by Sarasota County Schools for the Florida Department of Education 2022 Commissioner’s Business Recognition Award.