Career coaches bring job matching and training to rural communities

Murfreesboro, TN - Governor Haslam and the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development today unveiled three vehicles designed to improve outcomes for those looking for work. Three “Career Coaches” were customized with 10 computer workstations with Internet access, printers, fax machines, and flat screen TV’s with SMART Board overlays to facilitate classroom instruction. The intent of these roving offices is to bring job matching and training to rural communities that have limited access to a Tennessee Career Center.

"Job growth is my priority, and one of four focuses must be tackling unemployment in rural counties.  These Career Coaches remove barriers and open up opportunities for our Tennessee job seekers," Haslam said.  "Taking career counseling, job training and technological resources on the road to meet applicants where they need it the most will help put us on the road to economic recovery throughout our state.”

The vehicles will be based in Huntingdon, Nashville and Knoxville in order to cover all areas of the state. Each mobile unit will be staffed with three Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development employees who are trained in career counseling and unemployment benefits. They will conduct frequent workshops in résumé preparation, job search skills, and interviewing skills. The department’s division of Adult Education will also utilize the vehicles for enrollment pre-and post-testing, orientation, administering the Official GED Practice Test, and offering GED Fast Track classes.

“The strength of the Career Coaches is their mobility,” said Labor Commissioner Karla Davis. “New employers can prescreen individuals and conduct interviews before their facilities are even available. Conversely, if there is a mass layoff in a rural area, we can bring in our staff and equipment to assist workers still on the worksite. The Career Coaches operate much like that of our Tennessee Career Centers…but with wheels.”

"They say if you give a man a fish you can feed him for a day but if you teach that man to fish you can feed him for a lifetime,” Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey said.  “Many of our citizens, especially rural Tennesseans, are in desperate need of the tools necessary to compete in an increasingly intimidating global marketplace. These mobile career centers will provide a much needed lifeline to our state's most vulnerable jobseekers."

"These mobile career centers will provide Tennesseans across this state with the information, assistance, and equipment they need to find jobs and career opportunities,” Speaker Beth Harwell said.  “Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development employees will provide them with the tools they need to succeed in today's economy, and I applaud Governor Haslam and Commissioner Davis for making this a priority."

A secondary function of the Career Coaches is to act as mobile command centers during natural disasters. Each vehicle was outfitted with the latest in mobile communication, and together with their wireless Internet capability can serve as a vital lifeline to emergency services personnel in the event of a catastrophe such as a flood or earthquake.

Funding for the vehicles was made available from a $4.6 million grant through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for Re-Employment Services that Tennessee received in 2009. Each mobile unit was built at a cost of $188,000.

For scheduling information please call 615.741.0634 or book the Career Coach online at www.getonthecoach.tn.gov. Information and updates are also available on Facebook at www.facebook.com/getonthecoach.

MURFREESBORO, TN – The City of Murfreesboro is rearranging information on its website to ensure that we can be transparent about our finances and meetings. The City wants to make it easier and less confusing for citizens to access the city’s financial documents.

“During our recent city management conference, I noticed that many of the educational sessions featured sessions on transparency in local government. Upon returning from the conference, we thought it would be helpful to better organize some of the website information to help our citizens find it more quickly”, said City Manager Rob Lyons.

“The new web page will be called ‘Open Government’ and we hope this adjustment is beneficial – we want to be as transparent as possible. We have a very educated, informed and participative citizenry. Providing information about our finances, meetings and boards and commissions can help residents get more information about their city and will aid in our decision-making conversations. Communication and openness are foundations of excellent relationships.”

“Much of this information has already been available on the web site for a long time,” Murfreesboro’s webmaster Chris Shofner, said, “but instead of citizens having to look for what they want, we’re creating a much easier way to access it.”

At the top of the home page (www.murfreesborotn.gov), hover over the tab marked “Residents”, he said. Follow the list down to the “Open Government” tab to reach the appropriate page.

From this single “Open Government” page, the information will include:

• Murfreesboro’s 2010-2011 municipal budget
  
  
• Independent financial audits of the city’s finances for the last five years
  
  
• A recently adopted set of written financial policies
  
  
• A link to videos of city meetings and other original programming produced by Murfreesboro’s City Channel

• A link to a list of citizen representatives on the city’s various boards and commissions.

• Information about the city’s policies on public records.

NASHVILLE, TN -  The Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) was instructed in a joint meeting of the Senate Education and Senate Finance Committees this week to revisit a new funding formula which would have been punitive to Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU).  The action came after local State Senators Bill Ketron (R-Murfreesboro) and Jim Tracy (R-Shelbyville) drilled THEC officials about new changes which would have cost MTSU $12 million, and questioned them regarding the revision of the formula after it had been presented to local officials and the public for input.

The meeting was also attended by Rutherford County Executive Ernest Burgess, MTSU Senior Vice President John Cothern and Murfreesboro Mayor Tommy Bragg.  Bragg testified to the committee regarding the hardship that such a funding formula change would place on MTSU.

“We cannot allow a funding formula which is supposed to help promote more college degrees in Tennessee to punish a university which has increased its graduation rate more than any other institution in the state,” said Senator Ketron.  “That is counter-productive to our goal of increasing the number of college graduates.  The committee has asked them to revisit the matter and come back to us next month.”

The formula was devised to comply with the state’s new Complete College Tennessee Act.  That new law called for THEC to retool the funding formula to make it substantially based on outcomes, including end of term enrollment or student retention, as well as timely progress toward degree attainment and degree completion.  Before, the formula was primarily based on beginning of term enrollment.  The legislation had multiple accountability measures, which included that before the revised funding formula goes into effect that it “shall be presented to the Education and Finance, Ways, and Means Committees of the Senate and House of Representatives for review and recommendation.”  Both the House and the Senate held those meetings this week on Capitol Hill.

The newest funding formula presented by THEC to the committee would provide $25 million additional dollars to the University of Tennessee at Knoxville (UTK), while both MTSU and the University of Memphis would suffer losses.  The first formula presented by THEC on July 12 would have resulted in no loss of funds for MTSU.  That formula was presented to MTSU officials and to the public for input.  However, on July 29 a second formula was presented to the Task Force charged with making recommendations on the matter which would cut the funding MTSU receives by $12 million.  This was due to last minute changes made in “weighting” a variety of factors used to measure a university’s success.

“Our graduation rate has grown over the last ten years by 65.5 percent,” added Tracy.  “That is no small task, especially when it was done by a university which has operated successfully in the most efficient manner with our tax dollars.  Our committee has directed THEC to go back to the Task Force and to work through the problems with MTSU and to come back to us with written comments in October.  Hopefully, we will see the needed changes at that time.”

MURFREESBORO, TN – For the 12^th year in a row, the Certificate of Achievement of Excellence in Financial Reporting has been awarded to the City of Murfreesboro by the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA).

The award is presented to Murfreesboro City Recorder and Director of Finance Melissa B. Wright.

The Certificate of Achievement in Financial Reporting is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting, according to GFOA, and its attainment represents the highest and best among government and management accomplishments.

A commemorative plaque will be mailed to the City of Murfreesboro and its Tax and Finance Department.

The GFOA established the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting Program (CAFR Program) in 1945 to encourage and assist state and local governments to go beyond the minimum requirements of generally accepted accounting principles to prepare comprehensive annual financial reports that evidence the spirit of transparency and full disclosure and then to recognize individual governments that succeed in achieving that goal.

Reports submitted to the CAFR program are reviewed by selected members of the GFOA professional staff and the GFOA Special Review Committee (SRC), which comprises individuals with expertise in public-sector financial reporting and includes financial statement preparers, independent auditors, academics, and other finance professionals.

City Manager Rob Lyons said, “This award recognizes the efforts of City Finance Director Melissa Wright, Assistant Finance Director Erin Tucker, their staff and the City’s Auditors, Jobe, Hastings and Associates to ensure the City’s financial reports are accurate and complete.  We are proud to again win this award and know that it demonstrates a commitment to professionalism and excellence regarding the city’s finances.”

The City’s comprehensive annual financial report, or audit as it sometimes referred to, is available to our residents on the City’s website.

GFOA is a nonprofit professional association serving approximately 17,500 government finance professionals with offices in Chicago, Ill. And Washington, D.C.