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Existing workers need to access affordable, flexible education and training opportunities that allows them to add to their current skill set to stay competitive in their industry, and to avail themselves of opportunities for advancement and promotion. Many workers have some of the same deficiencies mentioned above in relation to job seekers. B. How will the needs of employers be determined in your area? [State Planning Guidance IV.B.6] The City of Santa Ana's Economic Development Division has successfully used a variety of methods to determine employers needs in the city including surveys, focus groups, community forums, personal telephone calls and visits. In addition, the City has State Enterprise Zone and more recently, Federal Empowerment Zone designation, both of which have extensively surveyed the local businesses and community members to deternine needs. It is not the Santa Ana Workforce Investment Board's intent to duplicate these efforts but instead to use this information and other data culled from local organizations such as the Employment Development Department, Chamber of Commerce, Southland Economic Development Corporation and Rancho Santiago Community College District to determine the needs of local employers. Additional data collection efforts will be utilized as needed. C. Yi'hat are the current and projected employment opportunities in the local area? [WIA Section 118(b)(1)(B)] The .latest Orange County data:... (7/21/06 .press release) provided by the Employment. Development Department's Labor Market Information Division for the period between June 2005 and June 2006 shows .overall growth in non-farm jobs of 0.8% (12,400 jobs), which is down from 1.5 % a year ago (21,500 jobsj. Professional and business services reported the largest ..gain: 7,400 jobs, which is slightly less than last year's gain of .8,800 jobs. ,Administrative and Support Service accounted for over half that .growth with 3,900 jobs. Educational and health services posted an increase of 2,100 jobs, with 95 percent of the growth concentrated in the health care and social assistance. Construction employment rose by 1,800 jobs. The majority of the expansion was in specialty trade contractors, which include plumbers, electricians, laborers and others. Santa Ana's unemployment rate for June 2006 was 6.0%, which remains higher than that of `Orange County as a whole, which is at 3.7%. Tliis is not much of a change from June 2005 when Santa Ana unemployment rate was 6.2% and Orange County's was at 3.5%. WIB Board members continue to stress the difficulties they are having finding qualified workers in this labor market. The 2000 Orange County Forecast released Chapman University's Center for Economic Research states that even though job growth dipped in 1999 to 3.2 % it is still higher than the job growth rate in the U.S. which is at 2.2 % and even higher than most other California counties. The Chapman Model expects an average annual job growth rate of 3% and predicts growth to be between 2 and 11 19D-5