Continuing a Decade of Partnership and Workforce Development

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CareerEdge, the workforce development initiative of the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce, is continuing on-the-job training and displaced worker assistance programs thanks to a $25,000 Economic Mobility grant from Bank of America. As a founding investor and member of the CareerEdge Funders Council, this funding grant extends a decade-long partnership with Bank of America and will greatly assist CareerEdge’s continued workforce re-employment efforts. Read More

From those who lost their job to essential personnel who must work in-person during a public health crisis, coronavirus is taking its toll on local laborers.

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by: David Conway Deputy Managing Editor

Like many workers in Florida, and in the restaurant industry in particular, Walter Higdon found himself out of a job after new regulations and health guidelines related to COVID-19 went into effect.  Higdon worked as a cook at a Sarasota restaurant that cut staff when it suspended dine-in service by state mandate in mid-March. He also attended Suncoast Technical College, studying heating, ventilation and air conditioning work. That, too, was affected by the coronavirus — classes switched to remote instruction April 1. Read More

Business Organizations Seek to Connect Displaced Workers with Job Openings During Pandemic

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Business organizations in Manatee and Sarasota counties have joined forces to connect displaced workers with employers who need to fill staffing demands brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. Employers can post jobs and workers can search for them at JobFocus.com, a service hosted by the Manatee Chamber of Commerce. Additional partners are Bradenton Area Economic Development Corp., CareerEdge, CareerSource Suncoast, Economic Development Corp. of Sarasota County and Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce.

The JobFocus.com partners are cooperating on an information campaign to get the word out about the web platform to encourage employers in Manatee and Sarasota counties to post jobs and workers to search for them. Read More

CareerEdge Partners With Technical Colleges To Launch Student Internship Program While Schools Remain Closed

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The Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce’s CareerEdge workforce initiative, is partnering with Suncoast Technical College to place their full-time trades students, who are only months away from graduation, in paid internships to gain hands-on skills, course credit and a paycheck while schools are closed.  “We are in unprecedented times. Working with the technical colleges, we came up with a creative approach allowing trades students to continue their education through hands-on training. Our partnership provides students near the completion of their education the chance to pursue the skills needed to gain employment after graduation,” said Mireya Eavey, CareerEdge Executive Vice President.  Read more

Sarasota-Manatee job growth outpaces US

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Florida is creating one of every 10 new jobs in nation, economist says. Parrish spoke to members of the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce at a “Where are the jobs?” session at the Carlisle Inn. Also speaking, remotely from California, was Chris Benner, professor of environmental studies and sociology at the University of California, was Chris Benner, Professor of environmental studies and sociology at the University of Caolifornia, Santa Cruz. One of of every 10 new jobs created in the U.S. are coming from Florida. Read Article

Co-Invest for impact building a stronger community

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At the National Fund for Workforce Solutions, we catalyze our network to co-invest in a set of integrated solutions that enable workers, employers, and communities to advance a skilled workforce, promote good jobs and invest in equitable outcomes. By using a co-investment model that leverages both private and public funding, our network of communities have greater resources to do the work. In this blog series, we will dig into some of the different co-investment models being used in the National Fund’s network of regional collaboratives.

The following conversation with Mireya Eavey, Executive Director of CareerEdge Funders Collaborative, highlights the unique strategies for co-investment in Sarasota. This conversation was edited for brevity.  Read Blog

Eavey: Growing tomorrow’s workforce in Sarasota County starts with career preparation

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Mireya Eavey talks about the role of the CareerEdge Funders Collaborative to work with local employers to understand the skill sets needed in the workforce; translate that to educators; and work to “upskill” individuals.

It has been a long time since a high school diploma could help new graduates land decent-paying jobs.

Today’s reality is that local and nationwide employers are frustrated by the scarcity of new job applicants with the talent and education to help their companies grow.

The role of CareerEdge Funders Collaborative is to work with local employers to understand the skill sets needed in the workforce, to translate the information to educators, and work to “upskill” individuals by helping them attain credentials required to compete in today’s job market.

We focus on industries that are growing jobs and are projected to have steady growth into the future — health care, manufacturing, insurance and credentialed trades, such as HVAC, plumbing, machinist and auto mechanic.

These high-demand jobs require postsecondary education at a technical school, community college or university, can withstand economic swings, and will adapt with technological advances. Nobody wants students to train for jobs that will be obsolete in five years.

The sustained growth of these industries relies, in large part, on how well we succeed, as a community, in growing the workforce talent.

Our partnership with the Education Foundation of Sarasota County (EFSC) is important to this effort.  Read More

 

CareerEdge Develops Talent Recruitment Tools for Insurance Industry

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CareerEdge Funders Collaborative, the workforce development initiative of the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce, recently launched a 15 insurance video series as part of a larger insurance industry talent recruitment campaign. The videos, which feature firsthand accounts of the diverse career opportunities found in the insurance industry, were created in response to a skill gap study and subsequent employer-based branding committee organized by CareerEdge.  Read More

How to make a quality impact on someone’s life

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The Starfish Story
One day a man was walking along the beach when he notices a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean. Approaching the boy, he asked, “What are you doing?” The youth replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The surf is up, and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they will die.”
“Son,” the man said, “don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can’t make a difference!”
After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it back into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said, “I made a difference for that one.” Read More

Sarasota HVAC workforce development training program graduates seven

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The program was created in a partnership between the city of Sarasota, the Argus Foundation, the Boys & Girls Club of Sarasota County, CoolToday and the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce.  Read More