1. Tri-County Community Partnership Initiative
Advisory Board
Program Update
April 23, 2019
Sponsored by the Economic Development Council of Okaloosa County, Florida

2. 28% Increase Career Readiness Assistance
TAP Survey – Yes, I’m staying !
28%
Increase
Here's Our BLUF, our bottom line upfront- the number of transitioning service members joining our community continues to grow. We attribute this success to the WG communication strategy – WE Need you, 2.8% UI, 4k jobs, new contracts, etc.

3. Career Readiness Assistance
Enterprise Florida is the principal economic development organization for Florida. This snip from there website highlights our Transitioning military and veterans as the number #1 reason companies should be in Florida.
Florida's Great Northwest is our regional economic development organization, They’re big fans too.
As a workgroup we want to continue to educate transitioners on the local training and employment opportunities, and provide Nathan and his staff the hard data on our hidden workforce.

4. A View of the Veteran and Defense Workforce in NWFL
Career Readiness Assistance
A View of the Veteran and Defense Workforce in NWFL
The Haas Center is continuing its "Citizen Economist" community engagement series with a demographic overview of Northwest Florida's veterans and defense workforce. The Haas Center will be joined by Chris Middleton, who serves as UWF President Martha Saunders' military liaison as well as director of strategic innovation for the Division of Research and Strategic Innovation. In addition, Bob Foster of the Military Veterans Resource Center will be a part of the program as well to share highlights from the Veterans Florida Entrepreneurship Program.
Data points covered include an overall demographic profile of veterans, unemployment of veterans, veteran-owned businesses, and the skill sets of separating military and recent veterans. 
The Haas Center is the premier data resource for industry, government, non-profits and academia in Northwest Florida. 
On May 1, they will present some of our WG data as part of their community engagement series “ A View of the Veteran and Defense Workforce in NWFL”
Thanks Matt Swaab of Matrix for the referral.

5. Career Readiness Assistance
Talent is the New Currency of Economic Development
Just another way of saying what we’ve been saying all along . Retaining our Transitioning Service Members is a critical component to growing our local economy.
Attended the Gulf Power Symposium last week. A panel of experienced site- selectors were asked what was the area’s most under utilized asset- one replied our military workforce.

6. Spring 2019 Panhandle Job Fair
222
Job Seekers 75
Employers
9 MAR
2019
68 Veterans
46 TSMs
10 Military Spouses
12 Veteran Spouses
Several WG member volunteer and serve on the Panhandled Job Fair Foundation’s Board. They are a 501c3 that provides scholarships to Children in Crisis.
We use this relationship to connect TSMs to community employers.
The number in attendance is impressive.
124
New Contacts
Spring 2019 Panhandle Job Fair

7. 9 MAR 2019 222 Job Seekers 75 Employers
Career Readiness Assistance
9 MAR
2019
222
Job Seekers 75
Employers
68 Veterans
46 TSMs
10 Military Spouses
12 Veteran Spouses

8. Career Readiness Assistance
The Air Force and our WG is dedicated to helping individuals discover educational opportunities.  This annual event provides the opportunity to connect with representatives from colleges and universities from around the United States.  Individuals can learn about degree programs, admission criteria testing for college credit, etc.

9. Career Readiness Assistance
Co-Chairs: Terry Cowan, Janice Barnes, Angela Maberry
Partnership Activity
Status
Career Skills Program – DoD SkillBridge
“Permissive TDY” to intern with community businesses for up to 6 months
Continuing to grow, over 45 local businesses formally enrolled, Recent Hiring successes.
TAP Survey
2,608 Respondents to date.
Work Group efforts continue to influence our Transitioning Service Members (TSM). A Full 47% indicate they plan to stay, with another 18% unsure at the time of survey.
TAP Integration
Work Group invited as SME for DOL state-wide Installations call. The TCPI and workgroup charter, DoD SkillBridge, and TAP survey were highlighted as best practices.
Events
Special Events with Partners to connect TSM to Community and Business
College / Education Fairs 1& 2 May // HBI Meet and Greet 29 March/ Early Bird Career Fair 19 March // Panhandle Job Fair 8 March.
TAP Integration. DOL VETS, who pays for TAP, put out a state wide memo asking for best community integration practices, We provided our process
We signed a formal MOU with Eglin / Hurlburt to provide meaningful career support for transitioning service members and their spouses. From there we formed the Career Readiness Assistance Work Group ( which I co-chair with Eglin’s AFRC Chief and Hurlburt’s Education Officer) Our Charter is attached as TCPI CRA WG…  We meet monthly, and I brief the installation leadership and community leaders on the group’s work.  Slides 3-9 of the attached CPP EXCOM 27 FEB 2019 are mine. So… We’re very involved at both installations.
Our relationships allowed us to insert ourselves into the DoD SkillBridge process.   As you know, we’re at 2.8% unemployment with a huge portion of our economy linked to the defense industry, Our TAP survey indicates ~500 TSM’s stay in the area per year. Our entire Wagner Population for Employflorida today is 1,077.  All said to say the TSM pipeline is critical to our community, and connects LVERs to the resource all businesses are looking for.  35 Community businesses have formally published internship opportunities through CareerSource Okaloosa Walton (CSOW).
The process – Neither Eglin AFB, nor Hurlburt Field conduct Capstone Events. Both review DD 2648s on a walk-in basis.  TSMs not meeting Career Readiness Standards (CRS) are given a distinct CSOW brochure with DVOP contact info (they never print the form and see our contact info until final clearance), counselor lists CSOW in block 43, and explains the benefits of our services.