Nominations Open for 2016 Annual WDB Awards

The Workforce Development Board of Ventura County (WDB) is seeking nominations for its 2016 Annual WDB Awards. Selected winners will have demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to advancing workforce development in the Ventura County region. The nomination deadline is April 15, 2016. Winners will be recognized at the WDB Annual Meeting on June 16 at the Ventura County Office of Education (5100 Adolfo Road, Camarillo).

“Each year, the WDB recognizes Ventura County’s exceptional leaders in business, education, labor, government and community organizations who consistently go above and beyond to help our local workforce acquire the skills that local employers need to be competitive,” says Victor Dollar, WDB chair. “The WDB Awards is just a small way to give them the recognition they deserve.”

An individual, employer, organization or partnership may be nominated in one or more of four categories:

WDB Youth Opportunity Award - for providing internships or employment opportunities that will grow and strengthen Ventura County’s future workforce.

WDB Collaborative Action Award – for a partnership that helps to meet employer workforce needs, improves education/workforce training and/or supports business expansion/retention in Ventura County.

WDB Champion for Prosperity Award - for supporting workforce development in Ventura County through job creation, job retention, business expansion or business attraction.

WDB Leadership Award - for a role model whose efforts or accomplishments embody the spirit and purpose of workforce development in Ventura County.

WDB Youth Opportunity Award winners for 2015 were Douglas Wood, general manager at the Crowne Plaza Ventura Beach and Ralph Imondi and Linda Santschi, co-founders and scientific directors at Coastal Marine Biolabs (CMB) in Ventura Harbor.

WDB Collaborate Action Award winners were Tiffany Morse, Ph.D., director of career and technical education with the Ventura County Office of Education, Subhash Karkare, Ph.D., biotechnology professor at Moorpark College, Bill Pratt, vice-president of operations at Kinamed, Inc. and manufacturing technology professor Scot Rabe at Ventura College. The 2015 WDB Champion for Prosperity Award went to Tejas Patel, president of Laksh, Inc. The WDB Leadership Award winner was Manuel Vega, CEO of Anacapa Water Blasting, Inc.

An online nomination form is available on the WDB website: http://workforceventuracounty.org. For more information, contact Talia Barrera at (805) 477-5341, talia.barrera@ventura.org.

About the Workforce Development Board

The Workforce Development Board administers federal funds that help to support American Job Center locations and other free adult, youth, and employer programs and services in Ventura County. For more information, call 800-500-7705 or visit www.workforceventuracounty.org.