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In Southwest Florida, the healthcare industry is expected to grow 18.7% between 2021 and 2029 (as compared to the average industry growth rate of 13.6%). Even when COVID-19 brought the economy to a near standstill, the healthcare sector was one of the quickest to rebound. By October 2020, nearly 75% of the healthcare jobs that had been lost were recovered, compared to 54% of all jobs in the country.

These jobs involve a wide range of skills, many of which are transferable between industries: engineers, first-line supervisors, machinist, welders, truck drivers, and repair technicians. The industry is expected to grow 6.8% between 2021 and 2029. In 2020, there were 12,415 manufacturing jobs in SWFL with a location quotient (relative to the nation) of .303, indicating that the region was much less concentrated in manufacturing than the nation as a whole. 

Data show the regional expected increase in transportation and warehousing to be 26.9% between 2021 and 2029. Local jurisdictions have already rezoned areas around the new Airglades cargo airport to encourage development of new distribution centers. Earnings potential and projected growth rate for logistics jobs will be added to the Career Pathways website during the Pipeline’s System Development phase. We already have logistics employer commitments to hire 1,620 job seekers. While most of these are entry-level jobs, the Pipeline will providing continuing support and upskilling for employees to become first-line supervisors, beginning in the logistics sector and expanding to all four sectors.

Each of the school districts in our region has unfilled K-12 teaching positions. This grant looks to upskill paraprofessionals to teachers, and increase volume in the teaching pipeline.