2000

May 2000 – The Florida Legislature passes the Florida Workforce Innovation Act, which reorganizes State and local Board structure and re-assigns leadership of several Department of Labor functions to local workforce development boards.

June 2000 – The Board completes its three years of One-Stop Career Center implementation. Three full-service and over a dozen satellite locations have been developed and are fully functioning.

July 2000 – Tom Clark is appointed as the Board’s Chair.

August 2000 – The Board forms a partnership with the Central Florida Development Council to educate employers about how to recruit and retain quality workers. Known as WorkForce 2020, a series of employer seminars and roundtables begin throughout the county.

September 2000 – Workforce Florida, Inc. certifies that the Board is in compliance with all provisions of the new state law and new committees begin to address their assigned tasks.

November 2000 – The Board receives two competitive grants from Workforce Florida, Inc.: One to pass on to Polk Community College to train information technology workers and one to Lockheed Martin IMS for the Step-Up Challenge Grant under welfare-to-work.

December 2000 – The Board submits to the state a Memorandum of Understanding outlining how they will assume responsibility for former Department of Labor functions for labor exchange, veterans services and other programs.