While summer is often a slower time for many businesses with people taking vacations and kids out of school, that is not the case at the CEP. If anything, this year the already crazy speed has gotten even faster. I would like to update you on a few recent awards and recognitions.
US News & World Reports Best Places List
The venerable US News & World Reports Annual “Best Places to Live” list was just released, and the Ocala Metro again placed very well. The list ranks the 150 largest metros in the nation on a series of data points and then provides ranking in several categories. For 2022, the Ocala Metro ranked:
- #4 Safest Metro
- #6 Fastest Growing Metro
- #6 Best Place to Retire
- #16 Best Small Metro
- #58 Overall
These great rankings reinforce what so many of us already know – the Ocala Metro is an exceptional place to live, work, and play.
National Association of Workforce Boards Award
CareerSource Citrus Levy Marion and the CEP have been recognized by the National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB) for significant partnership to advance the region’s workforce and economic development.
The 2021 Laurie Moran Partnership Award, given jointly to a workforce development board and chamber of commerce, will be presented next month at NAWB’s annual Forum in Washington, D.C. It is one of NAWB’s three most prestigious awards, along with the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Trailblazer and W.O. Lawton awards.
The CEP has collaborated with CareerSource CLM on numerous initiatives to establish a talented and trained workforce, including its annual involvement with the Marion County Youth Career Expos.
CEP Team Members Recognized
I strongly believe that the CEP team is the best in the country. Recently, two of our members have received significant recognition which I think are worth sharing.
Dean Blinkhorn, Vice President of Operations, received the Walter Clausen Award from the Florida Association for Career and Technical Education recognizing his “contributions to the improvement, promotion, development and progress of career and technical education” in Florida. This award recognized Dean’s outstanding work leading the CEP’s NextWorks initiative focused on school-business engagement.
The CEP’s Director of the IMPACT Initiative, Cherrietta Prince, was selected as one of 21 chamber leaders from across the country to participate in the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives’ Inclusive Economic Growth Fellowship. The Fellowship is designed “to help chambers refine their inclusive economic recovery goals” and assist chambers “build replicable programs and processes.”
Congratulations to Dean and Cherrietta for these much-deserved recognitions.
