2013
January 2nd – “Starting Line”, the official kick-off of Race to Place brought over 1,000 job seekers to the Lakeland and Winter Haven One-Stop Career Centers for resume review, mock interviews, and job search assistance. Ribbon Cuttings were also held in Lakeland, Lake Wales, and Winter Haven.
January 31st – Race to Place presented the State of the Workforce Summit for employers and human resource professionals sponsored by BB&T Bank.
February 18th – The Race to Place Job Fair and What If? Expo was held. Nearly 100 employers, 14 educators and 15 service providers were represented and approximately 1200 job seekers attended.
March – March Madness took over the One-Stop Career Centers, local educational institutions, and public libraries with twenty-one in-house recruitments in addition to hiring events for students held at Keiser University, Florida Technical College, Warner University, Webber International University, Florida Southern College, Fortis Institute, and Southeastern University.
April 9th – Race to Place officially hit the over half-way mark to the goal with 5,012 placements.
April 18th – The “Your Place in Polk” Job Fair was held and specifically targeted soon-to-be graduates and individuals with degrees or certifications from post-secondary institutions.
June 7th – The system wide Corporate Institute was held and the staff was trained on “The New Normal” that Race to Place would permanently bring to the organization.
June 24th – The Race to Place goal was met with 10,022 placements in less than six months.
June 24-28 – Polk Works hosted its first Gentleman’s Institute with the purpose of grooming our future workforce. What a transformation from Day One to Day Six. Feel free to watch video http://youtu.be/HsjOVxu1q88
June 30th – The Race to Place campaign ended with 10,488 job placements recorded in six months!
July 2013 – Lori Walsh is reappointed as the Board’s Chair.
August 22nd – Polk Works held its Annual Meeting and Race to Place Celebration at the Lakeland Center. Over 600 guests attend which included the Best Places to Work award ceremony. Our guest of honor was Florida’s Governor, Rick Scott, who also recognized our CEO and Board Chair with the Business Ambassador Award.
October 22nd- Polk Works announces beginning early next year, Polk Works will become CareerSource Polk as part of a new universal brand identity to better align Florida’s nationally recognized workforce system and improve customer awareness and use of the system’s services and resources.