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It was around that time that Kim discovered
the Job Training Partnership Act
(JTPA) Program, which has since evolved
into the Workforce Investment Act, as it is
known today. “I was interested in becoming
a counselor in the JTPA Program at then
the Gulf Coast Community College,” she
says. The program provided assistance to
disadvantaged populations who needed financial
assistance to obtain training. “You
knew you weren’t just changing a person’s
life; you were changing their whole family’s
life. I felt that I had found my calling.”
She began working at Gulf Coast
State College in 1992 as a case manager,
and loved it. She went back to school and
earned her Master’s Degree in Public
Administration at the University
of West Florida while working as
a case manager. Within 15 months
she became director of the program,
and was director for three years. In
1995, Governor Chiles redesigned
the state’s workforce system. This
region originally comprised eight
counties, and with the redesign was
split into two regions. Kim became
the Executive Director for the newly
formed three county region made up
of Bay, Gulf and Franklin counties
in 1996, where she built the program
from scratch. “I had a real opportunity,”
she says. “You only get one of
these job opportunities in a lifetime.
I was really blessed. What I love is
to hear someone speak about getting
training…’You guys helped me get training
and now I’m a nurse and my whole family
is doing better.’”
Currently, the Workforce Board has a budget
of $6.3 million and 39 funding streams.
“I’ve put everything we do at the Workforce
Board into three buckets,” Kim explains.
“One of those is about education and
training. People are laid off, unemployed,
financially or economically disadvantaged,
and our youth programs are also in this
bucket. Everything in this bucket is about
training people for jobs, whether they’re
nine years old or 70 years old. We prepare
them for the workforce, primarily in the traditional
sense through classroom training.
In Gulf County, we have a partnership with
the Jessie Ball duPont Port St. Joe Capacity
Building Fund which allows us to work
with more than 100 kids full time in the
summer months. We help them with reading,
math, sports, teamwork skills and job
readiness. Some people don’t understand
this as workforce readiness, but our youth
are the workforce of tomorrow, so we feel
like we are making a good investment with
these kinds of programs.”
Kim explains that the second bucket is what
the Workforce Center does through its operations.
“We enjoy a strong relationship
with Gulf Coast State College who operates
the Workforce Center,” she explains.
“Employer services, job-seeker services.
From someone being laid off and filing unemployment
to resume assistance to computer
skills training such as Word and Excel
training.” Last year the center hosted over
200 job fairs, and it additionally provides labor
exchange services. “When a company
downsizes or closes, we want to connect
with the talent that has lost their job and try
to quickly get them plugged back into the
workforce,” she says. “We went to Sally
Mae to meet with employees and help them
with their next step. We also meet with
employers on training issues, training computer
programs, etc.”
The third bucket is all about economic and
community development. The Workforce
Board works closely with the two chambers
of commerce and Bay Economic Development
Alliance. “We can provide complete
recruitment, have all applicants come to
their website or ours, screen applications
and pre-screen interviews, pull labor market
data for businesses, unemployment rate,
etc.” she says. “We know that job creation
is key to our community’s economic prosperity.”
Kim believes that our children are our future,
and shaping our children is the most
important thing we will ever do. “In my
work and in life, I think that our children
need us more than ever,” she says. “It is
our job to shape them and have a positive
impact on them. Kids are so smart now,
but I really worry because they are so much
more comfortable interfacing electronically
than in person. We work with a large number
of youth in all three counties and often
I see children, especially teenagers, raising
themselves. No role model in the home,
and single parent families really
struggling to hold it all together. We
see youth aging out of foster care,
and those who realistically need to
be in foster care. I know from our
work with state partners that there
is a dire shortage for foster parents.
It breaks my heart.” She also has
concerns about the changes in legislation
including the large amount
of testing and “gate keeping” tests.
“Our culture is different from India
and China,” she says. “Our country
tends to preserve and protect childhood,
perhaps at times to a fault. We
want our kids to have a good childhood
experience unmarred by many
of the responsibilities that other cultures
consider routine. Looking at
the new standards for high school
graduation makes me concerned for the
kids who aren’t college bound. We may be
so focused on raising the standards for education
that we alienate many students who
might be good workers but will just give up
on the high school diploma.”
Kim lives with her husband Bob and her
two sons, Ryan, 17, and Noah, 14. Bob
was the Workforce Board director in Tallahassee,
and is now retired. “He sometimes
gives me Workforce coaching,” she says.
Kim’s job and interests are very related.
“It’s probably in my DNA to help other
people,” she says. “I am very optimistic,
and feel I was put on this Earth to help
people in whatever way I can. There’s always
someone – from church, a neighbor,
through my job – who needs help. That’s
the person I’m going to be drawn to.”
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THE CIRCUIT September/October 2012 37