FutureMakers

The FutureMakers Coalition is a collective of about 140 business and educational partners in five counties working to transform Southwest Florida's workforce. The organization's goal is to help working adults with college degrees, workplace and industry certificates, and other up-skill credentialing. Karen Moore, publisher of Southwest Florida Business Today, spoke with coalition director Tessa Lesage, who shares the role and opportunities that the coalition offers, in partnership with FGCU, in the Southwest Florida Equitable Jobs Pipeline.

The FutureMakers Coalition held its annual Student Voice Summit at the Collaboratory in downtown Fort Myers this month. The coalition is working to strengthen Southwest Florida's workforce by getting insights from students across the region.

Florida Gulf Coast University and its partner, the FutureMakers Coalition at the Collaboratory in downtown Fort Myers, has been awarded a $22.9 million dollar grant. The grant will help fund an effort to fundamentally change how people are trained and jobs are filled in Southwest Florida and beyond.

An ongoing economic recovery, gains in health care and retail jobs, and continued low wages: that's the findings from the 2016 regional workforce study of…