January

Quick Start

H-GAC's activities for 2008 are already in high gear.  We are moving quickly to implement the priorities and programs authorized for 2008 by our Board of Directors.  These include: the startup of an enhanced clean vehicle program in five counties, a new focus on our regional Rideshare program, and other activities to build our region and to enhance the quality of life for our citizens.

H-GAC's local elected official Board provides strong leadership for all our services.  Our 2008 General Assembly meeting for delegates from all member governments will be held later this month to recognize our 2007 leaders and install the 2008 H-GAC officer leadership.

We're off to a quick start in 2008.  Please let us know how we can serve you this year.

Jack Steele
Executive Director

The AirCheck Texas Repair and Replacement Assistance Program has changed recently to provide more help for area vehicle owners who want to replace or repair their cars and trucks.  The Texas Legislature created the program in 2003 to help clean up the air in metro areas of the state.

The program works by providing financial assistance for vehicle owners to replace or repair cars or trucks that have failed the state's emissions test or are 10 years old or older.  In our region, H-GAC operates the program on behalf of the five area counties covered by AirCheck Texas:  Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris and Montgomery County.

Residents in these five counties can quality for assistance if:

• The vehicle has been registered in one of the counties for at least a year before you apply and is gasoline-powered;
• The vehicle has passed or can pass the state's safety inspection; and
• The resident's family income meets program guidelines, which are on a sliding scale, depending on the family's size.  For a family of four, an annual income of $61,950 or less qualifies you.
• The applicant has clear title to the vehicle.

If a vehicle owner wants to replace a vehicle, the program will provide $3,000 in a voucher toward the purchase of a new model car or truck or $3,500 toward the purchase of a hybrid.  If the owner wants to repair a vehicle that failed the emissions test, the program can offer up to $600 toward the repair.

For more information click here, or visit www.driveacleanmachine.org and read about the program statewide.

In recognition of its success serving the Gulf Coast region's demand-driven employment and training needs, the Gulf Coast Workforce Board recently won the 2007 National Workforce Association Award for Urban One-Stop Excellence.

The Workforce Board won the honor at the 2007 National Workforce Association (NWA) Legislative Conference held in December.

The Gulf Coast Workforce Board embraces the demand-driven approach to employment and training initiatives. It works to ensure that employers in its service region have an adequate supply of well-educated and well-trained workers that will enable them to compete in today's global economy. To do so, the Board has created a single integrated workforce system that provides solutions to workforce challenges by partnering with a multitude of industries that drive the regional economy. The Board's goal is to achieve more competitive employers, a better-educated workforce, more and better jobs, higher incomes and a positive rate of return through its efforts.

The Workforce Board's major successes include harnessing more than $25 million from various public and private funding sources during the last six years to address the health care industry's nursing shortage. The Workforce Board launched a major health care initiative in 2000. By fall 2006, enrollment levels in Gulf Coast nursing schools had risen 43 percent above fall 2000 levels, and 2006 nursing school graduation rates were 67 percent higher than those of 2000. The Workforce Board is also partnering with energy and construction entities to address similar worker shortages in those industries.

For more information, visit www.theworksource.org.