Community Affairs
Education / Workforce
The Chamber is dedicated to a strong public school system to educate its children and develop skills for its future workforce. The Chamber’s workforce initiatives are focused to align public education through its career academy programs with the Chamber’s economic development goals. Career Academies are designed to offer hands-on experience and training related to various careers and professions. The academies are designed to work with students to attain industry certifications upon high school graduation, and most often include strong business partnerships.
The Chamber’s Workforce Committee meets to review the Chamber’s program on workforce development with the Escambia and Santa Rosa School Districts, to review workforce trends and to provide guidance on our workforce projects and programs. Membership is open to all Chamber members who have an interest, with approval of the chair.
For more information, contact Natalie Prim at 850.438.4081 ext. 235.
Workforce Conference 2008
In August 2008, the Chamber held its second annual workforce conference "Possibilities through Partnerships". This event was attended by nearly 200 businesses, all interested in meeting and discussing workforce initiatives and strategies here in Northwest Florida. More events are scheduled for 2009!
Ford Motor Company Fund "Next Generation Learning Community" Program
Ford Motor Company Fund selected Northwest Florida (Escambia County and Santa Rosa County) as a Next Generation Learning Community due to its alignment between business, industry and education and because of its efforts to create a “dual county” career academy system based on economic development targets. In August 2007, Escambia and Santa Rosa School Districts were one of only six areas in the United States designated as a “Prospective Level Career Academy Innovation Community” by Ford Motor Company Fund. The next designation is Leadership Level which will be awarded on January 27, 2009. The Northwest Florida Next Generation Learning Community recently hosted a training workshop (Ford PAS) for interested teachers in both Escambia and Santa Rosa County and completed a Master Plan for career academy development and expansion. The partners for this initiative include:
Ford Smithsonian Scholars in the Schools Program
To download the Schedule click hereThe Chamber, along with our Escambia and Santa Rosa School Districts, and our business partners, is involved in the Career Academy Innovation Community program with Ford Motor Company Fund. As a result of this partnership, Ford Motor Company Fund will be sponsoring the Smithsonian Scholars in the Schools, a public education project of The Smithsonian Associates, the cultural and educational outreach arm of the Smithsonian Institution. In fulfillment of the Smithsonian mission, “the increase and diffusion of knowledge,” the Scholars in the Schools program brings scholars from the Smithsonian research and curatorial staff into schools across the nation to work with students, teachers and the school community.
Education/Career Academy Resources
- Escambia County School District’s Workforce Education Department offers fourteen programs including pre-engineering, law, health science, game simulation and animation programming, teaching, fire-rescue, e-commerce, design services, culinary arts, Cox Telecommunications, aerospace, agri-science, and Gulf Power Academy. For more information, contact Escambia County School District Workforce Education Director, Carl Leiterman at 850.469.5356.
- Santa Rosa School District’s Workforce Education department established the Building Construction Academy in the 2007-2008 school year. Locklin Tech was the recipient of a WIRED grant from Florida’s Great Northwest, which is part of President Bush’s Competitiveness Agenda, for their Building Construction Academy. For more information contact Raymond Rogers at 850.983.5058.
- The Chamber has a long-standing partnership with West Florida High School of Advanced Technology (WFHS). From its early inception to the day it opened its doors in 2001, the business community has focused its efforts on this “wall to wall” small learning community for excellence! West Florida Tech has achieved an unprecedented “A” State school grade for the past three years! The Academies at West Florida include Aerospace, Cox Telecommunications, Gulf Power Academy, Automotive, Engineering, Professional Services, Health and Human Services and more.
The Chamber has also supported WFHS’s Advanced Career Experience program (“ACE”). ACE is an opportunity for business to hire eager seniors who have received two years of training in their Career Academies and are ready to work! Businesses are able to employ and/or sponsor training for these highly trained seniors upon a request to the school and finding the best senior for their business. Businesses may offer paid or unpaid positions. For more information, contact Lori Anderson at 850.941.6200 ext. 2188.
Florida Ready to Work Changes the Way Businesses Hire
The Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce is pleased to recognize and participate in the "Florida Ready to Work" program.
The "Florida Ready to Work" program was passed in the 2008 Legislative Session, administered by the Florida Department of Education and implemented by the Escambia County School District. It is a program designed to connect employers with pre-qualified employees. This reduces employer hiring and turnover for employers. For jobseekers, it provides a credential that demonstrates skill level attainment in reading, applied math, and locating information. Whether you are an employer, employee, jobseeker, educator, or workforce partner, this is an opportunity. We must do our part to cultivate a workforce to respond to the growing needs of our business community.
Contact: Cynthia Miller, Workforce Education Career Specialist for the Escambia County School District at 850.469.5358. George Stone Technical Center is an assessment center open to the public (appointment required) contact James Morgan 941.6200 Ext. 2160.
For more information or questions, contact: Natalie Prim or go directly to the Florida Ready to Work website: www.floridareadytowork.com/aboutprogram.
All Escambia County high schools are registered Ready to Work assessment centers, providing students the opportunity to achieve the Ready to Work credential.