Courtney Glancy

January 5, 2023

Winter 2022 Quarterly Newsletter

The last months of the year always seem to fly by. Our final quarterly meeting of 2022 was not only a celebration of this year’s hard work and successes, but also a review of our goals for 2023.

We are entering year 3 of our 5-year strategic plan and have made significant progress toward each initiative. While there have been slight adjustments to certain objectives and action items as our organization encountered new possibilities for growth, we continue to garner momentum toward our initial overarching goals we set out to reach back in 2021. View our strategic plan.

This newsletter’s goal is to showcase OPWD accomplishments over the past quarter and highlight future plans designed to uphold our mission.

“Celebrate endings — for they precede new beginnings.” — Jonathan Lockwood Huie

OPWD Overall Updates:

Our office successfully held the 2nd Annual Instructor Workshop here at TREEO.

We welcomed two new employees to our OPWD Team: Jennifer Douglas and Alexandria Cromwell!

We hosted our first class at the Safety Yard!

The Diversity, Inclusion and Wellness (DIW) committee planned events and potlucks to celebrate the Holidays, as well as a few wellness breaks and diversity & inclusion activities.

We celebrated National Boss’s Day the only way we knew how… with a cardboard cutout of our fearless leader.

Career & Technical Education

26 students have applied for Spring 2023!

Conferences

August: 1 in-person event (Orlando, FL).

September: 1 hybrid event (Tampa, FL).

October: 1 in-person event (Gainesville) and 1 virtual event.

November: 1 hybrid event (Gainesville).

December: 3 in-person events (Gainesville) and 1 international site visit to the Dominican Republic.

Welcomed new Event Manager, Alexandria Cromwell, to the team!

Professional Development

Registration launched for the ThriveDX and UF OPWD Partnership Cybersecurity Bootcamp.

Our office received funding from the Pathways to Career Opportunities Grant to become a Registered Apprenticeship Provider and establish a Community Health Worker Registered Apprenticeship Program.

Registration is open for the next Culinary course in March of this year. Learn more.

We selected an outstanding group of speakers for our 6th Annual Inspiring Women Leaders Conference.

A few members of our team attended the Adult and Community Educators of Florida Conference and One Community Health Fair to network future relationships.

Our custom training sector has been steadily increasing over the past quarter – if you’re interested in custom training brought to your facility/organization/company or even held here at the TREEO Center, please visit our Leadership Development page and fill out the interest form.

TREEO Center Programs

Asbestos:


Held 18 courses with a total of 185 students!

Added 4 new Asbestos instructors to the team.

Backflow Prevention:


Secured a new training location in McDonough, GA!

OSHA, Safety & Health:


Held 1 course with a total of 9 students!

Developed OSHA compliant Confined Space and Incidental Response courses, and successfully coordinated the first confined space course.

Awarded the Susan Harwood Training Grant to develop training and educational materials.

Water/Wastewater:


Held 11 classes with a total of 113 students.

UF TREEO Water/Wastewater Instructor Ron Trygar was certified as a Level 2 Reverse Osmosis Operator, and became acting Laboratory Hazardous Manager for the UF Office of Professional and Workforce Development.

UF TREEO Water/Wastewater Instructor Ron Trygar spoke at Orlando Metra Career Day.

FDEP Class A Wastewater Exams were updated.

Solid and Hazardous Waste Management:


31 combined offerings/classes and had a total of 147 students!