Beginning early next year, FloridaWorks will become CareerSource North Central Florida 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.
The new brand, CareerSource Florida, is a result of extensive market research and input from local leaders, employers, job seekers, workforce professionals and community partners throughout Florida. The name, logo and charter for the entire workforce system were approved unanimously by the Workforce Florida Inc. Board of Directors in May. The FloridaWorks Board of Directors recently approved its aligned regional brand name.
“FloridaWorks will be changing its name in early 2014 as part of a statewide branding campaign,” said Kim Tesch-Vaught, executive director of FloridaWorks. “We will continue to deliver award-winning collaboration and partnership that grows our economy by developing a world-class workforce for our region’s employers. The FloridaWorks tradition will continue as CareerSource North Central Florida.”
As a member of the CareerSource Florida System, CareerSource North Central Florida and its Gainesville and Starke one-stop career centers that serve job seekers and businesses in Alachua and Bradford Counties will begin using the new name following a statewide brand launch in early 2014. The statewide re-branding effort was initiated to provide greater clarity and consistency among publicly funded workforce entities that serve job seekers and businesses and to enhance the ability of workforce boards to leverage their resources to improve the system’s efficiency and effectiveness. Regional workforce boards retain their flexibility to design and deliver programs that best address local workforce needs. FloridaWorks’ commitment to providing outstanding customer service remains a top priority.
FloridaWorks will continue to offer resources to grow businesses and enhance job searches as CareerSource North Central Florida, including Red Carpet Customer Service, Bradford County Incubator, TechQuest, Startup Quest™, employee assessments and the Healthcare Biomanufacturing Occupational Technology Training (HBOTT) program. For more information about these and other programs, visit FloridaWorksOnline.com.
Led by Workforce Florida, the statewide workforce investment board, FloridaWorks, along with its 23 regional board counterparts, conducted a comprehensive study to evaluate the development of a unified brand in response to the 2012 Regional Workforce Boards Accountability Act, which was passed by the Florida Legislature and signed into law by Governor Rick Scott. More than 1,500 Floridians directly contributed to the research and brand development during a six-month collaborative process that included 27 focus groups in 10 cities and statewide surveys of job seekers, workers and employers.
“Our CareerSource Florida state and regional brand names convey our shared mission to connect businesses with skilled talent and Floridians with skills development needed not only when seeking a job but throughout their career,” said Dwayne Ingram, Chairman of the Workforce Florida Board of Directors. “This exciting new brand demonstrates our system’s continued collaboration, innovation and leadership in developing strategies to maximize resources that help job seekers and businesses succeed.”
