January 2025

Workforce Development Newsletter

Happy New Year! Workforce Strategies Group and Georgia Mountains Works is amped to start this new year with our partners and new opportunities. The Apprenticeship Navigator Webinar Series and the LEAD program are fantastic opportunities for professional development. And by request, the Train-the-Trainer program is in development. Collaborative efforts among manufacturing and trade-related employers are expanding with new Georgia Mountains Works partners added to our existing partners. There is continued emphasis on feeding the workforce pipeline through high school CTAE and WBL programs to impact the present and future.

If you want to be a part of this workforce development activity, we’d like to have a conversation with you.

-Greg, Shelley, and Beth, Workforce Strategies Group LLC

Webinar Series

Jan 16, 2025, 2:00 PM

Feb 20, 2025, 2:00 PM

Mar 27, 2025, 2:00 PM

Apr 17, 2025, 2:00 PM

15-minutes a month about apprenticeships

The Basics Defined,
Applications and Funding,
Selecting an Apprentice,
The Mentor
The Vision and more.

You may attend the webinar or watch it after online.

Webinar Series

Georgia Mountains Works Employer Partnership

Jacinta Johnson, Marine Specialties: A Shorelife Company (Hall County)

Margie Sleigher Caldwell Electrical Contractors (Hall County)

Ashley Davis Lawson Air Conditioning & Plumbing (Hall County)

Jenny Chandler Corrugated Replacements (Union County)

New Partners

Welcome! Georgia Mountains Works is pleased to welcome 4 new partners. Employer Partners determine occupational and workgroup project priorities. They link their career sites to the website, post their job openings, and are given priority for workforce development opportunities. They attend up to 10 Strategy, Workgroup, or Employer Partnership meetings and tours per year.

JTEKT recently hosted a Georgia Mountains Works Partner tour of their Dahlonega location. Thanks JTEKT - you are a great partner!

JTEKT Tour

JTEKT has 150 employees and is a manufacturer of roller and taper bearings primarily used in the automotive industry.

JTEKT employs an 8 Step Problem Solving process for continuous improvement that also drives succession planning. The Quality Control Wall of Fame was impressive to behold.

Stephens County Schools

We visited Stephens County High School in Toccoa. Rod Pipkin, CTAE Director, spent time touring us through their classes in automotive, business, construction,

cosmetology, drafting, broadcast video production, nursing, manufacturing, and welding.

MFG Sector Partners In Action

Click picture for more information.

WorkSource Georgia reports there are 1,024 Manufacturing Industry Sector Employers that currently have 240 job openings in Region 2. An annual growth rate for this is sector is set at 1.13% for the state of Georgia through 2020-2030. #GMWdata

We are proud to support SkillsUSA Engineering students at the GHS Advanced Studies Center. in Gainesville. Check out the Mechatronics and Engineering and Technology Pathways. #CTAE

Industrial production in Georgia rose 9% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2024, accelerating from a 7% increase in the previous month. It was the strongest growth in industrial production since the second quarter of 2023. #GMWdata

Manufacturing (MFG) Sector Strategy collaborates with stakeholders in the 13-county WorkSource Georgia Mountains (WSGM) region to align education and workforce training programs with the needs of manufacturing businesses. WSGM, under Georgia Mountains Regional Commission, administers the federal WIOA funds which encourages sector strategies and partnerships. Workforce Strategies Group LLC manages the MFG Sector Strategy.

Workforce Strategies Group – Collaborating to realize a skilled workforce

Georgia Mountains Works Website