Newtown workforce training program gains Sarasota City Commission approval

SARASOTA — City officials hope a newly approved workforce training program in Newtown will finally create sustainable, well-paying jobs in the neighborhood where unemployment is notoriously high.

The City Commission on Monday unanimously approved the program, championed by Commissioner Willie Charles Shaw, which aims to provide 12 individuals ideally from North Sarasota with training in air conditioning maintenance — a trade that pays $40,000 to $45,000 annually for entry level positions. The four-month program would start in May, with classes three days a week at the Boys and Girls Club in Newtown.

“I think it’s got a great chance of success,” Commissioner Hagen Brody said Monday.

Shaw teamed up with the Argus Foundation, a nonprofit that promotes business and collaboration between the public and private sectors, and Career Edge, an organization dedicated to expanding workforce development, to pitch the idea to the commission and ask for just over $34,000 from the city to launch the program. City staff at a later date will present the commission with a budget amendment for the program, which will come out of a fund specifically dedicated to economic development.

CoolToday, a local air conditioning and electrical services company, has committed to provide a trainer for the students, while Argus plans to pitch in $5,000 for the program in addition to $1,100 it already spent on consulting services to ensure this kind of job training is what Newtown needs. Career Edge would contribute roughly $15,000 for training costs and paid internships after the program ends. The city’s contribution would cover the cost of equipment that would be used for future classes, Mireya Eavey, chief workforce officer for the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce leading the Career Edge initiative, said. Right now, one class is planned for this year, Eavey said, adding the program will be offered to county residents, but preference will be given to city residents.

Area employers have already committed to hiring program graduates, Eavey said, adding dedication on behalf of the city and program partners is essential to the program’s success. 

“This is a community effort and not any one of us can do this by ourselves,” Eavey said.

Career Edge last year successfully started an automotive repair program at Suncoast Technical College and an air conditioning installation program at Manatee Technical College in which students, many of whom work during the day, received certification in the fields and went on to have sustainable careers, Eavey said.

Several meetings were held last year by program proponents with community members, area employers and educators who voiced the need for such a program, said former Sarasota County Commissioner and Argus Executive Director Christine Robinson.

It’s Robinson’s dream that the program will become a fixture in the community and eventually need a building for workforce training in Newtown. Twelfth Judicial Circuit Public Defender Larry Eger plans to participate by helping adult students regain suspended driver’s licenses and expunge criminal records to increase the chances of landing a job after training ends, Robinson added.

Shaw on Monday acknowledged a shortage of local minority plumbers, electricians and air conditioning technicians in the area, but added the local workforce shortage is color blind. Shaw’s hope is to create a workforce that can afford to work close to home, he said.

“I want local people to live local and stay local,” Shaw said.

The program approval comes on the heels of Newtown being designated as one of four Qualified Opportunity Zones in the city under the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.

The program for the economically distressed areas helps low-income communities by providing tax advantages for private individuals and corporations that invest in an Opportunity Zone Fund — a provision included in the sweeping tax bill signed into law by President Donald Trump in 2017. It encourages the private sector to reinvest capital gains from other investments into businesses and start-ups in the zones, city officials said.

The four zones mirror U.S. Census tracts and were selected based on poverty rate, family income, unemployment and other factors, city officials said.

In addition to Newtown, the zones include the Rosemary District, Gillespie Park, Laurel Park, part of downtown and an area between Tuttle Avenue and Beneva Road. Investors are given a tax break based on the about of time they keep money in a fund. For example, investing gains in a fund for more than five years results in being taxed only on 90 percent of the gain, according to city documents. Leaving gains in a fund for seven years results in being taxed on 85 percent of the gain. If an investment is held in a fund for more than 10 years, the investor will be excluded from paying taxes on any returns the fund generated during the investment period.