Education/Workforce Development
Staff Liaison: Tina Bonifacio
Vice President, Workforce and Economic Development
912.644.6440 / tbonifacio@savannahchamber.com
GOAL: to develop world-class employees for your business. Education/Workforce Development is a Chamber top priority in response to our members’ need and desire for a better-trained, more competitive workforce. Our goals include workers in three categories:
- Emerging – pre-kindergarten through college
- Transitional – adults/youth not in formal education but not working consistently
- Current – current workforce plus underemployed (need to increase skill levels)
PARTICIPANTS: It’s always growing! Here are just a few the Chamber is partnering with:
- City of Savannah and Chatham County
- Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools
- Savannah Economic Development Authority
- United Way of the Coastal Empire
- Communities in Schools, Junior Achievement, Learning for Life
- Savannah Technical College, AASU, SSU, South University, GSU
- Coastal Workforce Services (Local Workforce Investment Board)
- Step Up Savannah’s Poverty Reduction Initiative
- Numerous Chamber businesses
BENEFITS/WHERE TO GET INVOLVED: Put your interests to work:
- Business/Education Partnerships: This is your opportunity to partner your business with a school (or schools) to accomplish your own workforce development goals. Whether you have a program in mind, want to follow someone else’s script (Junior Achievement, Learning for Life, etc.), or you want to start an idea from a blank sheet of paper, we can help. We can help you frame your partnership with measurable outcomes, so that you will know that your volunteer time and/or money are well spent.
- Education Council: This monthly group plans and executes the current strategies from the multi-year Savannah Compact document. The Compact is the partnership agreement between the business and education communities.
- Step Up Savannah’s Poverty Reduction Initiative: Poverty is not just a social issue. It is an economic development issue. And, one of the surest ways out of poverty is to equip individuals with skills (workforce development) that lead to family-supporting jobs. Join this team which is working on engaging employers to help reduce education/workforce barriers that keep people from getting out of poverty.
- Workforce Investment Board: The Chamber helped the City assemble an all-star team to insure that local workforce development programs support the job training needs of all job seekers, including discouraged workers, the unemployed, youth, disabled and seniors. The Board is mandated to have 51 percent business representation, and there is a need now for more business representation.
- Other Partner Programs: We need your business participation in workforce events during the year such as National Groundhog Job Shadow Day (February 2), Career Fairs, Speaking Engagements, Business/Education Partnerships Forums, New Teacher Orientation, Teacher of the Year Banquet, etc.
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101 East Bay Street, Savannah, GA 31401 | 912-644-6400