Counties, foundations commit $1.5 million to train local healthcare workers

David Gulliver -developing; initally posted 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, July 28

Healthcare businesses in Sarasota and Manatee counties should have more skilled workers as a result of a collaborative between charitable foundations and local agencies being unveiled this morning.

The various partners have committed $1.5 million to start a program that will prepare and train lower-income workers for higher-paying jobs. A $1 million grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation leads the effort.

The program has the dual goals of providing the counties’ employers -- already seeing a shortage of nurses and technicians -- with a stronger workforce, and helping employees with desire and ambition improve their careers.

“This region’s employers and its working families face long-standing challenges, challenges that a short-term focus on the current economic crisis or another job placement program could not meet,” said Meredith Hector, the Knight Foundation’s Bradenton program director. The Knight Foundation has long ties to Manatee County via Knight Ridder’s former ownership of the Bradenton Herald.

Mark Pritchett vice president for community development at Gulf Coast Community Foundation of Venice, one of the partners, said the collaborative would focus initially on people with a track record in healthcare, but in lower-paying jobs like food service or cleaning and maintenance.

“They aspire to increase their standard of living, but they can’t do it yet because they lack the right skills or training,” he said.

The collaborative also will assist people in manufacturing, transportation and technology, backers said.

Gulf Coast Community Foundation is contributing $150,000 and will oversee the collaborative’s fiscal operations. The City of Bradenton Central Community Redevelopment Authority is contributing $200,000 and will manage training and other resources.

Other partners include the Suncoast Workforce Board, the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce, and hospitals including Venice Regional Medical Center. Sherod Halliburton, executive director of the Bradenton CCRA, said the group is recruiting more backers.

When up and running, the collaborative will connect qualified workers with both “soft skills” like career planning or language education, and financial assistance for specialized training in colleges or other settings. The members have not yet set a date to launch the training effort.

The partners have been planning the program for more than a year. The community support also is a first step toward drawing financial support from the National Fund for Workforce Solutions, itself a collaboration of foundations and businesses launched in 2007 with a goal of training 50,000 workers and aiding 1,000 businesses.

Its members include, among others, the Knight Foundation, the federal Department of Labor, Microsoft and the Wal-Mart Foundation. They and other members have committed at least $30 million over five years to the national effort. With the local foundation in place, the partners now can apply to the national group for funding.