South Florida Workforce Investment Board Releases an Additional $8.6 Million in Workforce Development Funding

MIAMI – The South Florida Workforce Investment Board (SFWIB) recently awarded an additional $8.6 million dollars in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding in an effort to better assist low-income and unemployed residents with employment and training services.

Approval to award the additional funding was made at the SFWIB’s bi-monthly meeting that was held at Miami Dade College’s North Campus on Thursday, August 20th, 2009.

Rick Beasley, Executive Director of the SFWIB said the additional allocation of stimulus training dollars is aimed to support a number of re-training and career development initiatives geared to assist the region’s displaced and unemployed residents. “These additional dollars are going to fund initiatives that support those who have lost their jobs, or have been negatively impacted as a result of the downturn in our region’s economy”. “These will be targeted investments in training and career development that will ensure that South Florida’s residents will now receive the support and assistance they need to help them back into the workforce”, Mr. Beasley said.

Earlier this year the agency rolled out an ambitious stimulus spending plan that outlined the strategy for spending an estimated $21 million in ARRA training funds. Since then, SFW has developed and implemented a number of initiatives that include, but is not limited to the following:

· A Summer Youth Employment Program that has provided employment opportunities for some of the region’s neediest young adults;

· Operation Employment which has been designed to assist local residents to find employment opportunities;

· Creation of the Unemployment Recovery Call Center which has been developed to assist displaced workers with questions about their unemployment compensation claims;

· A collaborative partnership with Miami-Dade County’s Small Business Development Department to provide employment opportunities for residents of Disadvantaged Targeted Areas on capital construction projects funded in whole, or in part by county funds.

In addition, the agency developed the Career Pathways Model as an economic development strategy for strengthening local industry sectors via the efficient use of SFW’s resources to supply in-demand, trained employees at all career levels. These industry sectors include: Aviation, Green Jobs, Healthcare, Information Technology, Life Sciences, Biotech and Waste Management.