A group tasked with studying how to best meet the Tallahassee area’s workforce needs is divided.
The 12-member group met Monday to consider whether Tallahassee State College and Lively Technical College should remain independent and complimentary…or merge and align. Tallahassee State College President Jim Murdaugh is one of the leaders of the group. After no clear consensus came Monday, he says…
“Oh, the next step is for Superintendent Hannah and I to have a private meeting, just he and I.”
Murdaugh is talking about Leon County School Superintendent Rocky Hanna, the other group organizer. Hanna says the main concern he’s heard is about what would happen to Lively’s employees. He maintains no one would lose their job.
For a year, the group of workforce experts has been debating a recommendation. Organizers had hoped a decision would come Monday, but no clear consensus could be reached.
Murdaugh says he sees advantages in the lengthy discussion.
“I can’t say I’m disappointed, no," he said. "Look, if this was easy, it wouldn’t take anywhere near this long," he said. "I was really impressed with the quality of the questions that came out, the concern that came out. It’s wonderful to live in a community where people really care about the outcome of the decisions that we make.”
According to the Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce and the Florida Scorecard, Leon County will need about 15,000 more jobs by 2030 because of the area's growing population.
