Chattanooga 2018 budget includes workforce development office

by Paul Leach, Chattanooga Times Free Press

Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke seeks to boost the economy through a trio of new positions to develop the workforce, reuse old industrial sites and help entrepreneurs get up to $10,000 in interest-free loans.

The cost of the new positions makes up a little over 1 percent of the $22.5 million in proposed economic development spending in the 2018 fiscal budget. Overall, economic development spending shrank by nearly $265,000 compared to last year’s budget. Economic development, which falls under the category of “growing economy” in the budget, includes funding for a wide variety of city departments, nonprofit agencies and the Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority.

Maura Sullivan, the city’s chief operating officer, recently reviewed the proposed Office of Workforce Development with the Chattanooga City Council. The office, which includes a director tasked with building strategies to improve job skills and open employment opportunities for “lowest-income Chattanoogans,” needs $114,297.

“When we looked at all the workforce development efforts taking place across multiple departments, we realized there was need for someone to coordinate them,” Sullivan said. “We wanted to avoid duplication or missing opportunities.”