NashVitality to Close and Cut Jobs

Bad news is coming to the Metro board of health in the city of Nashville and that bad news is coming in the form of layoffs. A program, known as NashVitality, which was entirely funded by stimulus money, will result in the loss of about 40 positions. On the whole the jobs will be cut down when the funding is cut from the program in March of this year.

For those of you who are not familiar with NashVitality, the organization describes itself as:

“NashVitality celebrates the spirit creating healthy, active and green communities in Nashville.

NashVitality was made possible through funding from the Metro Public Health Department (MPHD), Communities Putting Prevention to Work grant awarded to Nashville by the Department of Health and Human Services, as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) campaign addresses one of the leading preventable causes of premature death and disability – obesity. CPPW Nashville will create greater access to nutritious foods and safe physical activity, through policy, systems and environmental change, where we live, work, learn, worship and play.”

The program gave the city a grant of about $7.5 million as part of Communities Putting Prevention to Work grant. That funding was used to launch the NashVitality program and with the funding cut, and the since the program has no alternative source of funding there is no choice but to cut the jobs.

This is not the first time that the state has had to come to terms with jobs losses. In the city of Memphis there were significant jobs cuts less than a year ago, here is an excerpt from that coverage, “Like most municipalities struggling to recover from the recession, Memphis is facing a budgetary crisis.  In this particular case the crisis takes on a unique flavor thanks to an ongoing battle over $55 million dollars between the city and the local school district.  After the city cut $57 million from the funding it provides to the school district in 2008, the district took the city to court and won, but so far Memphis has refused to pay up.  Now the district is back in court asking for a court order for immediate payment, while the city is asking to pay in installments.

If the city has to pay the full sum in one lump payment, then as many as 1400 municipal employees may find their jobs in jeopardy as one means of making up the difference.  Even without a court order requiring payment, the city is looking at a $20 million shortfall that will likely put 330 jobs at risk. ”

Of course, there was some good news for the state in the past. In 2010 the state was one of the lowest in the nation, “The Bureau of Labor Statistics released statistics today that showed Pennsylvania reporting 2,841 fewer initial jobless claims for the week ending June 26 than for the week prior. Tennessee, Illinois and Iowa followed, reporting 1,375 1,346 and 1,230 claims, respectively. On the other end of the spectrum, New Jersey reported 7,951 more initial claims, largely due to layoffs of school employees. Massachusetts, New York, Florida, and Connecticut also increased jobless claims.”