Kimberly Friedman serves as the communications director for the Arkansas Department of Workforce Services, a state agency that provides employment and unemployment insurance services to job seekers and employers around the state.
Friedman has held this position for more than 11-and-a-half years. As communications director, she facilitates internal and external communication regarding agency services, programs and events.
Friedman serves as the agency’s point of contact regarding media inquiries about agency services. This includes preparing press releases and providing interviews to newspapers, radio stations and television stations. In addition to responding to requests for information regarding Arkansas’ unemployment rate, as well as layoffs and closures, she also assists with the development of marketing campaigns and promotes agency services and programs, including the Arkansas Career Readiness Certificate and TORQ occupational skills assessment system.
With so many job seekers still struggling to find employment in today’s tough job market, Friedman’s goal is to inform employers and job seekers about the many free services DWS offers to assist them with their employment needs. She also ensures that internal staff stay informed by preparing newsletters, taking photos at agency events and developing informational e-mails that are distributed to staff statewide.
Friedman grew up in DeWitt, a small town in southeast Arkansas. After graduating from high school, she attended the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism degree with a minor in History. Prior to working for the state, Friedman was a reporter for the Pine Bluff Commercial, did page layout and design for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, and worked for St. Vincent Medical Center at Little Rock, where she wrote articles, took photos and designed graphics.
She lives in Sherwood, Arkansas, and is the proud mother of her 13-year-old daughter, Sarah.
