Economic Development News

Martin County had 51 businesses request $5.7 million to cover the initial costs of 261 new hires from the Florida Back to Work program offered by Workforce Solutions.

"Florida's Back to Work" program is a sterling example of how targeted companies in Martin County benefit from the (Business Development Board of Martin County's) strategic partnerships with organizations like Workforce Solutions," said Ron Bunch, executive director of the business board. "The Workforce Solutions team did an amazing job for Martin County and our region especially considering the short window they had to perform."

The program, which allows the private, nonprofit Workforce Solutions to reimburse 100 percent of the wages of eligible workers who are hired for jobs paying less than $40,000 a year, is through a $200 million U.S. Department of Health and Human Services grant received by the state late last month.

Other Martin County businesses, 32 are private and 19 non-profit or governmental entities.

Liberator Medical Supply in Stuart accounted for 28 of the new employee applications.

"The increase in staff resources will facilitate and support our rapid growth," said Mark Libratore, Liberator president and CEO. "These funds translate into shareholder value that positively impacts our bottom line."

Businesses, both private and non-profit, had until Jan. 13 to announce if they wanted to be part of the program.

Program requirements included:

The job must be new, not a retention of a current employee.

Employers must cover benefits.

Workforce Development must determine if the new hire is eligible for the program. Those hired must individually or as a family earn more than 200 percent less than the poverty level for the prior 30 days. Unemployment pay does not count against the earnings.

Private sector employers must agree to continue paying the employee beyond Sept. 30. However, there is no penalty for employers who break this agreement.

The Treasure Coast and Okeechobee County currently have a 14.1 percent unemployment rate, meaning 35,150 people in Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River and Okeechobee counties were eligible for unemployment benefits in November. The December numbers are due Friday.