Posted on November 1, 2009

print  e-mail

Knight Foundation Announces $1 Million Commitment to Bradenton Workforce Collaborative

The Miami-based John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has announced a $1 million grant to support the new Bradenton Workforce Collaborative, which will work to help prepare local residents in Manatee and Sarasota counties for higher skilled jobs and provide businesses in the area with the workers they need to remain competitive.

The grant will help fund the initiative's first strategic agenda item: responding to the growing need and opportunities for skilled healthcare workers in the Manatee-Sarasota region. According to a recent analysis conducted by the collaborative, health care and social assistance is the largest field of employment in Sarasota County (15 percent) and the third-largest in Manatee County (10 percent).

An additional $500,000 will be raised from current and future members of the collaborative, including the City of Bradenton Central Community Redevelopment Agency, the Suncoast Workforce Board, the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce, and local hospitals. The Gulf Coast Community Foundation of Venice, which will oversee the collaborative's fiscal operations, will contribute $150,000 to the initiative.

"This region's employers and its working families face long-standing challenges — challenges that a short-term focus on the current economic crisis or another job placement program could not meet," said Meredith Hector, Bradenton program director for the Knight Foundation. "The collaborative provides a long-term, industry-specific intervention strategy that can help transform the local workforce and economy."

“New Bradenton Workforce Collaborative Launches With Knight Support.” John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Press Release 10/28/09.

Primary Subject: Community Improvement/Development
Secondary Subject(s): Education, Health, Economic Crisis
Location(s): Bradenton, Florida, Manatee County, Miami, Sarasota County

FC014079