Education / Workforce Development
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What's your perspective?
- Employer - Are there enough available qualified workers to keep my business profitable and support its growth?
- Employee (Skilled) - Are there enough available jobs, for which I am qualified, that pay family-supporting wages?
- Employee (Unskilled or Low Skilled) - Are there quality training programs, to which I have access, that can provide me with the training and support services needed to help me: increase my skills and knowledge, get a family-supporting job, and move toward economic self-sufficiency?
- Education/Training Institutions – Am I providing the community with employable students when they exit my institution? Do I have enough available qualified workers to sustain and grow my institution?
- Students - Are there quality career counseling programs, to which I have access, which can provide me with the counseling I need to help me make a local career decision and chart the path to get me there? And, if I missed the mark in K-12, are there programs to help me catch back up (literacy training, GED prep, dropout recovery, etc.)?
- Government - Are there enough employers and employees to provide the tax base to operate necessary services efficiently and attract new growth?
- Consumer - Are there enough products and services available to me at reasonable prices?
What's the Problem?
- Educators have a hard time moving some kids toward graduation (~30% nationally)
- Businesses have a hard time finding qualified workers
- Unskilled residents have a hard time getting family-supporting jobs
- Local communities have a hard time attracting and keeping their businesses
What Gives Us Hope?
- Our region’s leadership is ready to act
- Our region is experiencing economic growth
- Our region appeals to businesses - quality of life, cost structure, transportation, etc.
- Our stakeholders are working together
What's the Strategy?
Savannah needs a seamless community-wide education/workforce system that is closely linked to jobs in targeted industries that offer career growth opportunities
Why Should You Get Involved?
- Savannah’s K-12 graduation rate increases
- Savannah’s dropout rate decreases
- Savannah’s high school graduates complete post-secondary education
- Savannah's highly skilled workforce earns better wages
- Savannah's tax base grows
- Savannah's workforce attracts world class businesses in the 21st century
- Savannah's students of all ages will all be lifelong learners with access to family-supporting jobs
What is the Chamber Doing about Workforce Development?
The Chamber acts as a catalyst for the development of a world class education system, world class jobs and a world class workforce in Savannah. The Chamber is taking a leadership role in facilitating the development of an education/workforce development system that matches employer needs - by working with key business, education, government, and neighborhood organization leaders involved in workforce development initiatives.
A healthy thriving community depends upon:
- Students who can be successful in school and graduate
- Employers who can hire workers from a skilled workforce
- Individuals who can get and keep family-supporting jobs
- New business that supports all parts of the community
A healthy thriving business depends upon:
- Attracting well-trained and motivated workers who are willing to keep their skills updated
- Retaining well-trained and motivated workers who are willing to keep their skills updated
- Advancing well-trained and motivated workers who are willing to keep their skills updated
Other communities that have been successful in addressing this issue have found that business must lead the collaboration of many different education/workforce stakeholders. The Chamber leads the community in its major education/workforce development programs. Using funds from Take AIM Savannah, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, and Continuing Achieving Progress (C.A.P.), the Chamber is leading the region to implement an overarching community action plan to strengthen our education/workforce systems. This includes the new Savannah Compact 2007. As a result, Savannah will be poised to reap the economic and social rewards of investing in education/workforce development.
