Mr. Joe Paterno is the Executive Director of the Southwest Florida Workforce Development Board, Inc., Region 24. His responsibilities include coordinating all activities for a volunteer Board of Directors that oversees the following initiatives (in coordination with local community & business partners, school districts, and state agencies): the Workforce Investment Act, One Stop Career Centers, Welfare Transition, High Skills/High Wages and other state and local initiatives.
Prior to that appointment, he served as the Executive Director for the Southwest Florida Private Industry Council for thirteen years. He came to Southwest Florida from Kentucky, where he oversaw an employment and training program in a ninety-two county area and was responsible for administering an annual budget of approximately 4.5 million dollars.
Joseph is a graduate of West Virginia Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management with an emphasis in Accounting and Economics. He has been a member of the Florida Employment and Training Association since 1985, a member of the Board of Directors of Junior Achievement of Southwest Florida since 1986, a graduate of Leadership Florida Class XII, and past President of the Collier County Chapter of the American Red Cross. In 2002 he was recognized as one of Collier County’s “Men of Distinction.”
He has been married to Karen Orlandi, his high school sweetheart, for the past thirty years and has two daughters, Suzanne and Bridget.
