Century eyes ways to spend development funds

Although they took no action due to lack of quorum, the Century Town Council Tuesday night discussed how a $35,000 grant from the Department of Economic Opportunity will benefit the town by developing a strategic plan for a stronger workforce through planning and development.

Councilman Luis Gomez and Councilwoman Dynette Lewis were present. Councilwoman Sandra McMurray Jackson and Councilman James Smith were dialed in on the phone line.

The grant is one of eight grants totaling $280,000 awarded to eight small and rural communities through the Competitive Florida Partnership program. The money funds the development of an economic strategy through innovative planning. The plans focus on economic growth, workforce growth, diversity and community design.

Director of Workforce Innovation at FloridaWest Jeff Dyer told the council that for the first time, there will be no administrative fees taken out of the grant because FloridaWest will become part of the Pensacola Economic Development Council (PEDC) to serve as the grant administrator.

The council must approve Mayor Ben Boutwell to relinquish the responsibility of the Town of Century being the grant administrator to designate PEDC to be the grant administrator.

Dyer pointed out that the entire grant can be spent on developing and strengthening Century's workforce and that none of it will pay his or others' salaries as they are taken care of through FloridaWest.

“It's a planning purposes grant,” said Dyer. “How the money will be spent will be decided by our working groups. Organizations such as the school systems, business owners, town council, FloridaWest, CareerSource EscaRosa, the workforce board, the Century Chamber and Pensacola State College and others will hold a meeting very soon and will serve as our steering committee which will guide us down the path of what we want to do for the workforce initiatives.”

Dyer said some key components to strengthening the workforce are to address the critical labor market shortages in the town by preparing students for high demand occupations and careers with livable wages; facilitate transitions into identified career pathways; decrease unemployment; increase number of college completers in high-demand labor market sectors and share best practices and resources among the region's workforce development partners. Several strategies identified include partnerships, curricular alignment and outreach. The overall goal is to create and integrated workforce plan between the partnerships.

Councilman Gomez expressed concern regarding how the groups meeting will divide and who will be at the head.

Dyer said he expected a large meeting to begin with, then smaller groups will meet and discuss transportation, career academy enrollments and business partnerships, etc. to decide what path each group wants to take. Dyer said FloridaWest will be responsible for all group organizing.

Dyer said FloridaWest works with career academies and schools on a daily base to get businesses and students together to bridge the gap between high demand industries and potential employees.

Councilwoman Dynette Lewis asked about long-term and short-term strategies, such as summer work programs for high school students. Dyer said they will be partnering with CareerSource EscaRosa to offer high school students opportunities in the future.

Dyer said a recent tour of Northview High School to see what the students are accomplishing through certification and technical programs offered was amazing.

“A lot of these students already have certifications that none of us even have, it's incredible,” said Dyer. “The shop, which really wasn't like shop I had when I was in high school, had these kids doing 3-D printers. The teachers really loved what they were doing, you could tell. They really engaged these students.”

Council members discussed how important a program like this is to offer students the ability to obtain and keep a well-paying job and keep skilled labor close.

Dyer said that is why FloridaWest and PEDC will be partnering with both PSC and George Stone Technical School.

“College isn't everybody,” said Dyer. “There are many paths to success. That's really what this grant is about, to show the students that there is opportunity in these others areas. The connection is the employers. We've got to have the employers involved in it. We can train people all day long, but if we don't have employers who are willing to them, there's no sense in hiring them.”

The council tabled approval until there is a quorum. The next town council meeting will be at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 18, at town hall.