CareerEdge leads by creating new opportunities for local workers & new growth potential for local employers

CareerEdge was designed to work on both sides of the labor market - the supply side and the demand side – as well as among intermediary organizations, such as occupational skills training groups, that fuel the pipeline of skilled labor needed by the region’s employers.

Two of the most tangible goals of the CareerEdge initiative are to help low-skill/low-wage workers advance into higher-skill/higher-wage careers, while providing employers with the skilled workers they need to accelerate the growth of their revenue and profit.

In addition to implementing customized worker development programs with hand-picked employers, CareerEdge is also executing improvements to the overall workforce development system. CareerEdge focuses on the following:

1. Innovative employer partnerships: CareerEdge is providing employers a tailored support package never before available from workforce intermediaries in the region. That package includes grants that invest in customized worker training and support programs, combined with hands-on technical support by CareerEdge staff, all designed to help employers advance their incumbent workers into higher-skill/wage positions, and to speed their creation of entry-level job openings that can be filled by less-skilled entrants to the workforce.

2.Educational bridge building: CareerEdge is jointly investing with other workforce intermediaries and educational institutions to develop a more seamless career education platform to be more tightly attuned to the needs of the region’s employers.

3. Increasing investments: CareerEdge is working to increase the amount of philanthropic resources invested into workforce development, particularly for underserved segments of the labor force, and to leverage those investments to increase the sums invested by public agencies and private employers. By July 2011, the initiative had raised $3.8 million to fund its operations, which is so far being matched by nearly $1 million in local employers’ investments in training programs.

4. Policy advocacy & public discourse: CareerEdge is influencing policy decisions about workforce programming and funding commitments, in part by reframing the public discourse, inspiring data-driven decisions by public policy makers, and by educating leading advocacy groups and philanthropists on innovations and new directions in workforce development.

CareerEdge uses funding from private and public sources to conduct outreach efforts, facilitate solutions and measure progress. We invite you to join us in our mission to realize the full economic potential of the Manatee-Sarasota region while improving families’ prospects and supplying local employers with the skilled workforce they need to grow.