Workforce Development in Greene County

John Ellenberg is the CEO of the Green College and Career Academy in Greensboro, Georgia. We met with him on a recent visit to learn about how John and his team support the upcoming workforce. Career pathways, industry mentors, and individual learning plans are part of the formula for workforce development in Greene County, Georgia.

John's interview is below:

"In the state of Georgia there are 51 College and Career Academies, and what we do is prepare students for the workforce. We make sure that our students understand that yes, if you need to go to college for your job, that is something that you definitely can do, but only if you need it. You have lots of other opportunities inside the state. You can go to a technical college, you can get an apprenticeship, you can have work-based learning so that you can learn your trade and that you're ready to go into the workforce if you so choose. And if you decide to go in the military, we have JROTC to prepare you for that as well. We are making sure that the students are receiving the appropriate education in the state of Georgia so that when they enter into the workforce, they're ready to be productive.

Our pathways are three classes in any particular area, and they can choose anything from healthcare to automotive to welding to advanced academics, so students have multiple options and pathways that they can follow in their lives in order to reach the goals that they set for themselves. One of the things we do is bring in a community aspect. We have a number of volunteers - about 186 volunteer career coaches. What they do is work with our students on individualized career plans. Our classrooms here are all outfitted with industry materials so that the students aren't learning something that they're not going to utilize inside the workforce. We've worked with our local businesses inside the college and career academies to talk to them about what their requirements are for their entry level employees. Then we mirror that inside of the education plan. I got into education because I literally saw that this was the front line.

This is where it makes a difference with our society. And if you don't plug in at some point, find a way to volunteer inside the school. You don't have to work for school system, but volunteer for the school system, plug back in because I'm telling you, this is the frontline work as far as getting students where they need to be to be productive citizens.

Georgia Power has allowed us to build an early childhood education program inside of the Green College and Career Academy through a grant, through the Georgia Education Foundation. And without that partnership, a lot of these programs that are innovative programs that we're growing our own teaching force would not be possible. I couldn't have bought metal workers, I couldn't have bought sheet metal material, I couldn't have bought certain welding equipment. Sometimes we need that extra material, not just to teach the standard, but to teach the industry standard. We thank Georgia Power for that support. And we thank our local businesses that plug in with the college and career to make all this possible."

Want to know more?

Our Northeast Region Economic Development Manager, Andrew Carnes can answer your questions about the workforce pipeline in Greene County, Georgia and the surrounding communities. Get in touch to discuss what it means to build a business in Georgia.