Photo caption: Left to Right: Carol Houwaart-Diez, United Way of Martin County CEO, Gina Master, Workforce Development Coordinator, Angela Hoffman, Vice President, Time Kinane, Career Coach, Elliot Paul, United Way of Martin County Chairman
The Stuart/Martin County Chamber would like to thank United Way of Martin County and the Community Foundation of Palm Beach/Martin Counties for their recent grant awards to The Martin Chamber Foundation, the Chamber’s only 501c3 charity. The Martin Chamber Foundation was established in 2023 to support economic prosperity for Martin County residents by strengthening and growing workforce development, education & entrepreneurship. More specifically, the Foundation is tackling one of our area’s toughest challenges – a prepared and connected workforce – with a program called Career Connect Martin.
These two grants will fuel the Career Connect Martin program, providing individualized workforce skill development and on-the-job training for our community’s most vulnerable job seekers. Program participants gain the competencies, confidence, and connections to land great jobs that offer security and growth opportunities. In addition, Career Connect Martin is a non-traditional business accelerator that augments the human resource management needs of small companies. Career Connect helps hire, train, and retain employees. Companies with employees who are well-trained and well-supported have 24% higher profit margins.
We are excited to strengthen our reach and grow the program’s capacity with a renewed focus on internal structure, clear, measurable objectives, and even better training tools for participants. With the support of United Way of Martin County and the Community Foundation of Palm Beach and Martin Counties, Career Connect Martin will enhance our economy and improve the quality of life for our participants and their families.
More about Career Connect Martin:
With support from the Martin County Board of County Commissioners, the Stuart/Martin County Chamber started Career Connect Martin in 2022 to help unemployed and underemployed residents gain new skills, overcome employment barriers, and connect to local businesses struggling to hire, train and retain employees.
With an 83% Success Rate in the first two years, the Stuart/Martin County Chamber realized the importance of continuing Career Connect Martin. As a result, the Martin Chamber Foundation, a 501c3 charity was established as a means to continue the work. To learn more about the Martin Chamber Foundation and how it supports economic prosperity for Martin County residents, visit www.martinchamberfoundation.org.
