Hernando chamber breakfast spotlights workforce and education partnerships

At its June membership breakfast at the Southern Hills Plantation clubhouse, the Greater Hernando County Chamber of Commerce focused on keeping enough trained workers in Hernando County and the surrounding region. The chamber brought together Pasco-Hernando State College, CareerSource Pasco Hernando and the Early Learning Coalition of Pasco and Hernando Counties on Wednesday morning, June 24, to show how education, job placement and child care support are being lined up around the same workforce problem.

Ashley Hofecker, the chamber’s chief executive, called the collaboration a way to strengthen the local economy by making the talent pipeline more resilient when education, workforce development and early learning partners work together. The chamber has served members since 1925.

PHSC Vice President Stormie Knight, whose college profile identifies her as vice president for policy, budget and administration, laid out the scale of the school’s local footprint. PHSC supports 6,505 local jobs and offers more than 90 programs. Knight also pointed to nearly 13,000 students across five campuses and two sites, more than 1,800 credentials awarded in the last academic year and $1.3 million in Foundation Scholarships distributed in 2024. Average tuition for a 15-credit semester is $1,578.

PHSC’s Institute for Nursing and Allied Health Advancement works with Tampa General Hospital, BayCare, Empath Health, HCA Florida Bayonet Point, Orlando Health, Premier Community HealthCare Group, Morton Plant North Bay Hospital and AdventHealth sites. Knight also flagged fire training, construction and manufacturing as critical sectors. The college secured an additional $850,000 for the nursing institute in this year’s legislative session, and Gov. Ron DeSantis announced a $3 million Job Growth Grant Fund award for PHSC on June 10 to launch an airframe and powerplant program at the Brooksville-Tampa Regional Airport. The money is set to pay for classrooms, labs, tools, equipment and instructional technology for hands-on aviation training.

CareerSource Pasco Hernando pushed its employer services in Brooksville, Dade City and New Port Richey. The agency offers employer and employee services in Pasco and Hernando counties, including job advertising, pre-screened applicants, job fairs, incumbent-worker training, on-the-job training and apprenticeship support.

The Early Learning Coalition of Pasco and Hernando Counties brought the child care side of the equation into the same conversation. Its 2023-2024 annual report shows 5,501 children in Pasco and Hernando counties were served in School Readiness programs, and its 2024-2025 report shows it welcomed more children than ever into Voluntary Prekindergarten classrooms. CCR&R staff can help families identify child care providers and early learning resources.