The Tallahassee community is in a workforce crisis. We have more open jobs than people actively looking for work across all industry sectors. We have all felt the scarcity of workers whether it involves waiting in long lines, seeing empty shelves or sadly realizing your favorite small business had to close due to insufficient workers to keep the doors open. There is no easy answer to this crisis, but we do know one thing for sure, we all must lean in and work together to create a solution.
Working together as a community has never been more important or more celebrated. When workforce stakeholders join forces, we can ensure better outcomes for both workers and employers. Due to recent events such as the pandemic, more workforce development dollars are available than ever before from both the public and private sectors. The one common element each is seeking is community-wide collaboration. Your local Talent Development Council recognized this trend in 2021 and quickly moved to rally the community to create a collective plan of action. We have already witnessed success because of this plan. As we are able to pool resources and leverage them for additional funding, we find we are able to make system-level changes that ensure sustainability far beyond a grant cycle. Together as a community, we will continue to pool resources as well as break down unneeded silos through this work.
The One Vision Community Talent Plan, guided by the Talent Development Council, included stakeholder input, qualitative research, the development of strategic recommendations, the creation of an implementation plan and the establishment of performance metrics to measure successes.
Three strategic priorities were identified:
- Create a More Efficient Workforce Development Ecosystem
- Develop a Pipeline of Highly Skilled Talent
- Promote Access to Training and Employment Opportunities to Targeted Populations
Why is this plan important?
Through one collective vision, we create opportunities to expand our workforce and training programs through grants – entities are looking at communities that already have strong partners and collaboration to award these dollars. Together as a community, we will continue to pool resources as well as break down unneeded silos through this work.
As a community, we are working to solve the talent and workforce challenges that will ensure better outcomes. The One Vision Community Talent Plan will be led by the Talent Development Council, including Keith Bowers (Office of Economic Vitality), Jim McShane (CareerSource Capital Region), Dr. Kimberly Moore (Tallahassee Community College), Shelly Bell (Lively Technical College), Terrie Ard (Moore, Inc.) and Corrie Melton (Greater Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce).
