Board highlights CTE month, career cafes and rural counties day as part of workforce strategy

Columbia County staff briefed the advisory board on upcoming workforce-development activities, including Career Cafe events, CTE month programming and participation at next week's Rural Counties Day in Tallahassee.

Unidentified Speaker (S3) said the county is organizing a series of weekly Career Cafe events in February at Columbia High and Fort White High to showcase CTE pathways (medical, manufacturing, culinary, hospitality and public-safety tracks) and connect students to local employers. The goal, staff said, is to strengthen the pipeline of skilled workers so graduates can fill local openings.

Staff also noted the county is a Select Florida/EDAC partner and will have representation at Rural Counties Day; the county's team expects a high turnout from rural counties and additional networking opportunities for economic developers. S3 shared a draft 2025 annual report and asked members to review it ahead of the February meeting.

Next steps: staff will circulate the CTE-month schedule, list of participating employers and the draft annual report to advisory board members.