Bartow, Florida, June 25, 2013 – Polk Works and the Race to Place Partners have 10,000 new reasons to celebrate! In January a promise was made to the Polk County community that 10,000 job seekers would be placed into jobs through the collaboration of Polk Works, community organizations, and local businesses in the first six months of the year. After receiving the Daily Job Placement Report sent by Workforce Florida for June 21^st, Polk Works CEO Stacy Campbell-Domineck knew that the goal had been reached and it was only a matter of minutes before she sent the announcement out to the Race to Place partners. 

In late 2012, Campbell-Domineck began taking meetings with local leaders making the case for this goal. The plan was simple: Do a better job connecting prepared job seekers to local employers. Over 130 local agencies, municipalities, and businesses signed on as Race to Place partners to help make this goal a reality.   

Campbell-Domineck stated, “We could not be more excited that this community initiative was met with such enthusiasm from all the partners. Bringing employers and prepared job seekers together through Employ Florida Marketplace and local hiring events brought us success with this goal, but we are not done. The most recent data for Polk County show 21,025 individuals seeking employment but 5,902 positions available and we know our work is far from over. Race to Place has encouraged job seekers that had given up the resources and assistance to get their job search back on track. We are continually looking for ways to serve the Polk County community and we know it’s not time to take off our running shoes just yet.” 

The official celebration of this achievement will be at the Polk Works 2013 Annual Meeting on August 22^nd in Lakeland. Tickets are available at PolkWorks.org or by calling 863-508-1600. 

For more information or to register for any upcoming events offered by Polk Works, please visit us on the web at www.polkworks.org or at 863-508-1600x1116.

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Polk's Unemployment Rate - Polk's unemployment rate was 7.7% in May 2013
Help Wanted OnLine Reports - Online advertised vacancies were 5,902 jobs in Polk for April 2013

Polk Works is a private, non-profit administrator of workforce funds.  Our mission is to be the innovative leader to ensure and sustain a quality workforce for today and the future.  For more information, go to www.polkworks.org.  Polk Works offers equal opportunity programs, auxiliary aids and services that are available upon request to individuals with disabilities   Member: Employ Florida.