Difficult economic times -
Florida Crown stretched thin and working overtime
Columbia County, FL (posted
November 26,
2009)
By Stew Lilker
Florida Crown Workforce Board and the Consortium viewed
a presentation by Executive Director, "JC" John
Chastain.
The November 17, 2009
Florida Crown Workforce Board meeting looked back at
the previous year's facts and figures; looked forward
into the year ahead; appointed new board members from
the four counties it serves and saw the Consortium
approve the revised budget without the distraction of
Columbia County, who, after months of distraction,
voluntarily withdrew its membership earlier this year.
Florida Crown serves the four county region of
Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist and Union counties. Part of
the mission of Florida Crown is to act as the state
unemployment office for the four county region.
Executive Director, John Chastain's power point
presentation was replete with statistics that showed the
plight of Florida and the rest of the nation.
The numbers are "staggering and overwhelming.".
The most telling number of the evening was the
comparison of the number of customers served for the
past three years. Florida Crown's customers could be
your neighbors or your family. They are the folks
looking for jobs; folks on hard times looking to
transition to welfare, folks looking for training; folks
looking to apply for food stamps, wounded and homeless
veterans; one day they could be you.
The fiscal year for Florida Crown begins on July 1st.
The facts and figures presented at the meeting give a
real indication of the regions plight. The following
three years of numbers show the number of customers
Florida Crown saw during the past three years, year by
year.
In 2006-2007 FL Crown saw 13,795 customers. In
2007-2008 Fl Crown saw 23,589 customers. In 2008-2009 Fl
Crown saw 42,285 customers.
Another telling number in the four county region are
the number of folks transitioning to welfare. Executive
Director John Chastain called these numbers "staggering
and overwhelming."
In 2006-2007 the number was 1,627. In 2007-2008 the
number was 8,296. In 2008-2009 the number was 12,828.
Mr. Chastain explained that Florida presently has 11%
unemployed, which is the highest rate since 1975 and
that job growth is the lowest since 1991. He said,
"Trends reflect that both the government and private
sector are taking steps to eliminate all vacant
positions and cut work hours."
Mr. Chastain also reported some good news. For the
2008-2009 year, Florida Crown, based on performance, was
in first place among the twenty four work regional
workforce boards in Florida. For the current year (July
through September) Fl Crown is in second place and has
five more positive ratings than the current leader.
In 2009 Florida Crown received the following awards:
• 2009 Columbia
County School District’s Adult Education Program
Business Partner of the Year for Literacy
• The Governor’s Able Trust -2009 Ability Award – High
School/High Tech Program of the Year
• Veterans Performance Incentive Award - $29,438 due to
the effort of Thomas Allen and Alonzo Galloway
• 2009 Disability Mentoring Proclamations – Florida
Crown – Jeannie Carr, Elizabeth Wetherington and Denise
Paschal
There was also good news on the budget front. With
the addition of the WINGS grant, stimulus funding,
veterans increases and others, Fl Crown added $1,161,059
to their $2,250,304 budget. Fl Crown's revised budget is
now $3,411,363.
The management and staff of Fl Crown worked hard to
add the following funds since the last Director's
report:
• Veteran’s Stand Down -
$7,000 (restricted)
• WFI Workforce Innovation New Generation Solutions
(WINGS) grant awarded - $402,050 (restricted)
• Local Veteran’s Employment Representative increase -
$33,633 (restricted)
• Re-Employment and Eligibility Assessment (REA) -
$60,480 (restricted)
• Veteran’s Performance Incentive Award - $29,438
(unrestricted)
• Able Trust Continuation Grant for High School/High
Tech - $80,000 (unrestricted)
• Able Trust Veteran’s Grant (ENABLE) - $40,000
(unrestricted)
• Able Trust RAMP Grant - $30,000 a year for 3 years
(unrestricted) – Mentors needed for Columbia and
Gilchrist
The following people were nominated and elected to
the Workforce Board:
• Philip Arnold (Dixie
County)
• Tommy Cooper (Dixie County)
• Jeff Hudson (Columbia County)
• Ron Jones (Columbia County)
• Phil McIntyre (Union Rep.)
• Jason Medlin (Columbia County)
• Randy Nehring (Gilchrist County)
• Perley Richardson (Gilchrist County)
• Anthony Rodriquez (Union Rep.)
• C. Todd Sampson (Columbia County)
• Mark Touchstone (Union County)
These folks, along with management and staff of
Florida Crown can be
contacted here.
There are some dark clouds on the horizon.
Executive Director Chastain told the Observer:
"Funding for next year is uncertain. This is putting a
lot of pressure on our staff, which is already stretched
thin."
Mr. Chastain also mentioned the
TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families)
money: "This money is used to help the families
that are suffering the most. These people have no or low
skills, no training and also need assistance to keep
their families together. Right now we have three case
managers at our headquarters in Lake City and one in
each of our satellite offices. If the 18% cut that some
are talking about goes into effect, this will jeopardize
the program."
Mr. Chastain continued: "The TANF numbers are
staggering. In 2006-2007 we had 1,627 requests for
assistance. In 2007-2008 we had 8,296 requests for
assistance. Last year [2008-2009] we had 12,828
requests. This literally takes our breath away."
Mr. Chastain told the Observer: "These are truly the
most difficult times we have seen. Our staff – the
Consortium -- the Workforce Board – everyone -- is
working as hard as they can."
