ob欧宝娱乐app’s quarterly employee recognition program, aptly-named the EPIC Awards, is designed to help bring the firm’s four core tenets—Entrepreneurial Spirit, Passion, Impact, and Community—to life in a tangible way. Today, we are thrilled to announce that Candace Phinney 被选为盈科最新的EPIC奖得主，以表扬她的创业精神，以及为我们的公共部门客户及其服务对象提供重要的解决方案的不懈努力.

Candace被ob欧宝娱乐app下载团队的Angela Pate和Brian Howells提名，她创建并实施了一种创新的客户融资方式, ob欧宝娱乐app’s public sector partners are able to provide needed services they may have otherwise lacked the funding to provide. These are services that clients acknowledge would lead to better outcomes for their constituents, if only they could afford to provide them... Enter Candace and her team.

An Entrepreneurial Approach to Business Development

Following the acquisition of workforce development firm Focused Management Solutions (FMS) in late 2017, ob欧宝娱乐app’s Workforce Development team, of which Candace was a new member, participated in a business development exercise. 目标是为ob欧宝娱乐app找到创新的方法，利用其国家足迹来增长和保留更大的客户基础，而不仅仅是响应提案请求(rfp)。. Candace and team devised an approach built upon their extensive experience in the workforce development space, as well as their firsthand knowledge of the needs of existing clients’ workforce development participants nationwide, and clients’ fiscal constraints. ob欧宝娱乐app可以通过扩大服务来帮助客户解决这些需求，同时也可以帮助他们获得联邦资金来扩大服务提供. 

To that end, 坎迪斯寻求联邦拨款的机会，将资助扩大现有的劳动力发展客户以及潜在的新客户所需的服务. She led her team to:

1. Identify solicitations from the US Department of Labor (DOL) that could be used to provide the needed services.
2. 管理一项奖助金写作工作，包括广泛的全国合作伙伴拓展计划(在管理内部团队领导的支持下), Kim Tesch-Vaught and Makaya Mcknight, who oversee program design/outreach, and finance, respectively).
3. Recruit new and existing clients to serve as recipients of federal funds to apply for the grants, with support from ob欧宝娱乐app.
4. Draft the grant applications on behalf of these clients and potential clients.
5. Submit the extremely competitive grant applications, and more importantly, win them.
6. Negotiate contracts to provide funded services after an award was won.

Fueled by their entrepreneurial spirit, Candace和他的团队将业务发展转变为建立和维持与现有和潜在客户的长期关系的管道的机制. Through these long-term relationships, 客户和潜在客户开始依赖ob欧宝娱乐app提供创新的解决方案和我们帮助他们获得的联邦资金——所有这些都为他们服务的人带来真正的价值.

Solutions that Matter Snapshot

Entrepreneurs are innovators and problem solvers. 坎迪斯体现了盈科的创业精神，因为她创建了一个客户资助机制，使公共部门机构能够更好地服务于其选民的需求. Simply put, Candace delivers solutions that matter to the public sector, to jobseekers and employers nationwide, and to ob欧宝娱乐app and our employees. 以下仅是ob欧宝娱乐app目前支持的Candace和团队工作的一个资助项目的样本(注意此列表并非详尽无遗):

Tech Quest Apprenticeship (TQA) program

A US DOL-funded initiative led by Clark University, ob欧宝娱乐app, 以及一个由劳动力发展委员会和培训伙伴组成的全国性联盟，为5人提供学徒前培训和IT及与IT相关的学徒培训,000 unemployed, underemployed, and incumbent workers.

Rural Roads to Connected Care (RRCC) program

由社区卫生信息技术(CommHIT)在ob欧宝娱乐app支持下运行的一个由美国司法部资助的全州范围的项目，为佛罗里达州农村社区的250名合格个人提供赠款资助的职业培训, instructional services, and support to prepare them for select direct care health occupations.

Tech Boost Training program

A US DOL-funded initiative led by Clark University, ob欧宝娱乐app, 以及国家劳动力体系，通过该体系，800名失业和未充分就业的工人将接受IT和IT相关职业的培训和再培训.

Foundations for Life program

由美国能源部资助的佛罗里达混凝土砌体ob欧宝娱乐app委员会(FCMEC)领导的一项倡议，通过释放前培训让200名被监禁的参与者重返监狱, industry credentials, and/or employment/retention with a goal of less than 12% recidivism.

A Most Worthy EPIC Awards Recipient

Colleagues and clients alike offered high praise for Candace and her entrepreneurial spirit in support of her EPIC Awards nomination. These testimonials paint the picture of a most worthy award recipient.

Excerpt from endorsement submitted by the Program Director for Workforce Grants at Clark University, Dug Jones, JD: 

“在圣达菲学院和克拉克大学，我有幸与坎迪斯共事多年，并围绕着她工作. All told, I’ve been connected to projects she helped imagine, structure, and execute exceeding $30M. Her insight, expertise, and committed approach have been integral components of many very large successes. I consider her a “grants genius.” She strikes the perfect balance of being both visionary/innovative and understanding/following the necessary guidelines/frameworks. I reach out to her for guidance with almost every difficult grant-related question.

Most recently, we have worked together as partners on two large DOL grants. Clark University was awarded (with significant ob欧宝娱乐app support) a $12M Scaling Apprenticeships Grant (Tech Quest) in 2019 and a One Workforce Grant (TechBoost) in 2021. Candace was the architect for both proposals. We currently work together (with additional teammates) to implement/manage both of these projects. Candace is always able to see the possibilities/opportunities. Her approach to these and other projects has always been entrepreneurial.

At Clark University, we all look forward to winning and managing additional grant projects in partnership with Candace (and ob欧宝娱乐app).”

Excerpt from endorsement submitted by ob欧宝娱乐app colleague: 

“Candace exemplifies entrepreneurial spirit. In the last three years she has successfully been the lead writer and strategist securing five Department of Labor grants. Candace的领导和指导鼓励实施这些项目的团队不断寻找方法来创新和改进我们的基础设施和流程. 我们积累资源，提高项目交付效率，然后利用这些改进来确保更多的战略合作伙伴，使我们能够应对新的融资机会.

Identifying the problem and designing innovative solutions that win more work is the core of Candace’s entrepreneurial strength.”

Excerpt from endorsement submitted by the President and CEO of CommHIT, Kendra Siler-Marsiglio, PhD:

“CommunityHealth IT (CommHIT) is grateful to Candace Phinney for her entrepreneurial thinking and expertise. She embodies "Entrepreneurial Spirit," and we fully support her receiving a ob欧宝娱乐app's EPIC Entrepreneurial Spirit award.

Candace crafted our funded DOL在全州范围内授予“乡村道路到互联医疗”(RRCC)，并支持我们与ob欧宝娱乐app合作的实施活动. 她与我们的工作尤其重要，因为在COVID - 19期间，佛罗里达州缺乏医护人员，这一点变得尤为突出. Many of the state's rural hospitals, federally-qualified health centers, behavioral health centers, and nursing facilities are biting at the bit to be part of this program that Candace initiated.

The crafting of the original grant in partnership with Candace and her team has created a great opportunity for CommHIT, and CommHIT whole-heartedly supports a decision to recognize her within ob欧宝娱乐app for her outstanding work.The ongoing operational implementation continues the ob欧宝娱乐app support of CommHIT's mission. 我们很荣幸和感谢有机会与盈科合作这个项目，并将继续邀请盈科为其提供行政服务，因为有越来越多的机会这样做.”

Excerpt from endorsement submitted by ob欧宝娱乐app colleague:

“Candace has created an entrepreneurial solution to grow workforce development services from ob欧宝娱乐app. 她的团队帮助现有的和新的客户，为他们写赠款，让他们提交，以赢得来自联邦机构的数百万美元的资金，然后与他们协商一份合同，以实施这些建议中的设计.

I would like to tell you a bit about Candace. 她是家庭唯一的照顾者，同时她管理着一个由ob欧宝娱乐app专业人员组成的团队，目前管理着五个由DOL资助的大型项目. Additionally, 她一直在努力发展这些业务线，因为她的战略计划是在全国范围内扩大规模并复制已被证明的实践. She continues to write additional grants for more contracts for continued growth…This is a proven solution to increasing growth rates, 为需要更多帮助的客户提供更好的服务，并在提供重要的解决方案时产生重大影响…

Candace is brilliant, competent, steadfast, calm and supportive yet driving, strong, relentless in finding the truth and root causes of obstacles. She focuses on the relevance of any effort. She makes progress at all times…Her leadership brings out the best in people. She hires people smarter than herself in strategic areas of expertise. She deserves this recognition as she is humble to her own detriment, usually giving credit to others.”

Excerpt from endorsement submitted by the Executive Director of the FCMEC, Jim Painter:

“We would like to convey our support for Candace Phinney's award of ob欧宝娱乐app's EPIC

Entrepreneurial Spirit award. 坎迪斯制定了我们的DOL赠款资助的基金会的生活计划，并支持我们的实施活动与我们的合作伙伴ob欧宝娱乐app.

与Candace和她的团队合作制定最初的赠款为我们的组织创造了一个很好的机会，我们全心全意地支持在ob欧宝娱乐app表彰她杰出的创业工作的决定. The ongoing operational implementation continues the ob欧宝娱乐app support of our mission, and we are grateful for the opportunity to work on this project with ob欧宝娱乐app.”

Please join us in congratulating Candace for this well-deserved recognition of her entrepreneurial spirit and hard work. 正是因为有像Candace这样的同事，ob欧宝娱乐app才能够继续为公共部门及其服务对象提供重要的解决方案.