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Florida Region Uses Strategic Doing to Help in Overcoming the Space Challenge as the Space Shuttle Program Comes to an End

About 250 people joined us recently for an interactive ‘strategic doing’ event hosted by Brevard Workforce and the Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast, (and generously sponsored by FLORIDA TODAY, our local Gannett newspaper) called Overcoming the Space Challenge through Regional Innovation. The group came together to learn more about the challenges we face at the end of NASA’s Shuttle Program, and to actually incorporate our ideas and resources into a strategic plan that would help Brevard and the surrounding region in overcoming these challenges. It was the first such event Brevard has ever experienced. Facilitated by Ed Morrison, strategic advisor to the Purdue Center for Economic Development and Linda Fowler, founder of Regionerate, local, regional and state experts on the leading edge of responsibility in the areas of schools, our economy, the aerospace industry, county services, and help for the workforce started off the event with some insight before attendees broke into groups. Brevard Workforce briefed the audience on our intensive Aerospace Workforce Transition program and the Regional Aerospace Workforce Initiative, efforts that started more than three years ago to serve and assist the talent that will be displaced.

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Enterprising States: Creating Jobs, Economic Development and Prosperity in Challenging Times

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No End in Sight: The Agony of Prolonged Unemployment

Despite positive signs of economic growth and a rising stock market, millions of unemployed American workers see no end to the Great Recession that wrecked their finances and threw their lives into turmoil. A new nationwide survey conducted in March 2010 of more than 900 workers who were jobless in August 2009 documents their continuing struggle to find jobs and the sacrifices they have endured in a punishing economy. The report, entitled No End in Sight: The Agony of Prolonged Unemployment, was prepared by professors Carl Van Horn and Cliff Zukin of the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, a research and policy center at Rutgers University. The report is based on a six-month follow-up survey with the national scientific sample of unemployed Americans reported in the Heldrich Center's widely acclaimed Anguish of Unemployment report released in September 2009. Seventy-six percent of those interviewed in August 2009 were re-interviewed by Knowledge Networks of Menlo Park, California between March 10 and 23 of this year. No End in Sight underscores that positive growth in the nation's economy has done little to reach millions of skilled workers still adrift in the most severe period of prolonged joblessness in decades. According to Professor Van Horn, the study's co-author: "Despite recent signs that the worst phase of the Great Recession may be behind us, the vast majority of jobless Americans have not found new jobs. When they did find work, most took pay cuts and/or lost benefits. Among those still searching for work -- many for more than a year -- are millions who have never been without a job and who have at least a college education. The inability of these job seekers to find new opportunities is an economic and cultural disaster."

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Health Coverage Tax Credit and Reemployment: The View from Colorado

My name is Shannon Gutheil and I was asked to highlight the experiences I have had working with trade-affected individuals first-hand and how the HCTC Program has helped them. Over the last 6 years working with trade-affected workers there have been many challenges they face and health care is one of the biggest. The HCTC program and benefit has been able to help alleviate some of the stress that comes with layoff. When people find out about HCTC I see the light go on in their eyes and a smile emerge on their face. They sometimes can’t believe what they are being offered. The details and process are sometimes hard for them to grasp, but once they understand what steps they need to take to access HCTC benefits you hear a sigh of relief. For many workers, continuation of health care is an option they grapple with over and over because of bottom line costs. They are trying to answer the questions “How am I going to keep health care with COBRA costs being so high? How am I going to take care of my family if they get sick without insurance?” These are questions I hear at my desk almost daily when working with trade-affected workers. A great percentage of workers we serve on the front lines are the sole carriers of health insurance for their families and when they loose their jobs this compounds their stress levels, which in turn can increase their risk for getting sick – thus meaning they need to keep their health care coverage even more. Knowing they have HCTC available to them, as long as they meet all criteria, can help relieve this burden and help them focus on re-tooling their skills and/or gaining new employment. When trade-affected workers utilize and are eligible for HCTC benefits, it is truly a great benefit to have available. Shannon Gutheil, TAA Counselor at the Ft. Collins Workforce Center, Colorado