SelectCobb
As one of the largest, most comprehensive, and most competitive educational communities in the Southeast, Cobb County is constantly providing our local business community with the talent they are looking for—and that is important now more than ever.
Site selectors across the nation have found that the availability of skilled workers has become the top priority of businesses looking to relocate or expand into a new community—outranking incentives and all other economic factors. An educational infrastructure that is prepared to adapt to the changing needs of industry can be a powerful force in the recruitment, growth, and retention of local businesses. Cobb County is proud to offer these crucial resources.
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The availability of skilled labor continues to be a top site selection criterion for economic development projects. In addition, recruiting and retaining a qualified, trained, and reliable workforce is one the greatest challenges for employers across the nation. Since its inception in 2015, the Cobb Workforce Partnership (CWP) has worked to address the current and future workforce needs and concerns by bringing together leaders from the business community, K-12 educational systems, postsecondary education institutions, and other stakeholders for focused dialogue. CWP is a collaboration of the Cobb County and Marietta K-12 schools, the University and Technical College system, community workforce providers, and local businesses brought together to address the current needs and gaps of the Cobb county workforce. The workforce partnerships work together to help establish a pipeline of job-ready workers in Cobb County. If you are interested in joining, complete the form here.
Workforce Partnership meetings are a joint meeting of industry leaders, educators, and workforce professionals brought together to discuss the current landscape, innovations, challenges, and opportunities of the top five target industries in Cobb County. Cobb’s target industries include advanced manufacturing, construction and skilled trade, healthcare and biotechnology, logistics and supply chain, and IT and communication.
The Cobb Chamber partners with WorkSource Cobb, a not-for-profit organization committed to strengthening our community’s workforce by providing access to a system of employment and education services to give members access to an extensive job board. Members can search for future employees and post positions. Job seekers can find local employment opportunities and workforce training opportunities and resources.
Cobb-area businesses have the nation’s best workforce training program at their disposal: Georgia QuickStart. This free service is provided at no charge by the Technical College System of Georgia. Georgia Quick Start delivers training in classrooms, mobile labs, or directly on the plant floor—essentially in any location that suits the company. The program is designed to address the needs of any sector. Still, it has extensive experience delivering workforce training in biotech and health care, warehousing and distribution, automotive, advanced manufacturing, food and agribusiness, and service.
WorkSource Cobb’s On-The-Job Training program (OJT) helps employers attract and retain employees who don’t possess the skills to perform in a specific position. OJT reimburses 50 percent of the employee’s salary during the designated training period. OJT can assist employers looking to expand their business and need additional staff trained with specialized skills. Contact your local OJT provider here for more details.
CobbWorks offers young professional services through the CobbWorks B.O.S.S. Program. The B.O.S.S. Program is a career pathway program targeted to young adults ages 16 to 24 who meet income qualifications (to be determined at the time of eligibility), and are within one of the target groups. Eligible Cobb County residents have access to free education tuition, paid work experience opportunities, job readiness workshops, career counseling, and more.
Program participants can enter the program at any stage in their career development whether they need to earn a GED, obtain work experience, or are ready to gain education in their desired career CobbWorks staff support participants and help them achieve their goals through career coaching and incentives.
The program is offered to Cobb residents through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. Participants must meet eligibility requirements in order to receive services. Anyone interested can contact the CobbWorks B.O.S.S program by calling 770-528-4300 or emailing bossinfo@cobbworks.org.
In high schools throughout Cobb County, students are discovering career pathways based on their talents and interests through YouScience, an online aptitude and career discovery tool. Now, YouScience has an offering for employers that allows them to start nurturing their talent pipeline and building awareness within the county’s high school students.
The YouScience Employer Connections helps businesses develop their local talent pool and start identifying next-generation talent. You can start connecting with qualified talent by registering your business with the program. Companies can register here.
Be Pro Be Proud is an effort to bring information and innovation in the technical professional fields to middle school and high school students in the Cobb and Marietta School Systems. This covers everything from healthcare and plumbing to welding and coding.
The website pulls together 15 high-demand skilled professions showing annual wages earned, how to get training, and where to find employment. They take the message to the students with their state-of-the-art, interactive Mobile Workshop. This gamified trailer is power packed with simulators to excite the students about learning a skill.
The ReAlign ReStart initiative is a collaboration between the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office, WorkSource Cobb and Construction Ready to train men and women that are in their last 90 days of incarceration. These individuals are trained in the construction industry so that they will be able to have career opportunities upon their release. This helps fill a workforce need while also helping to reduce recidivism.
The completion of the 20-day program leaves participants with up to eight industry-recognized credentials and job placements in areas of construction, HVAC, welding, and other skilled trades. The program also offers career counseling, resume preparation and mock interviews giving participants the skills needed to find their next job.
The Superior Plumbing VECTR Center is the Veterans Education Career Training Resource center that is now open at Chattahoochee Technical College in Marietta. The Superior Plumbing VECTR Center provides academic transition support for veteran students and their dependents and provides referral services for veteran community members. The center has professionals that help translate military and civilian transcripts into potential credits toward certificates, diplomas and degrees depending on recency and program of study. The center also offers accelerated training programs in high demand careers at little to no cost if you are a Georgia resident or are stationed in Georgia. Finally, the center helps military members navigate the world of higher education as a point of access to the state’s 28 public universities and 22 technical colleges, offering some of the nation’s highest rated programs, which are all regionally accredited and affordable.
If you are an agency that offers community support to the veteran community and would like to schedule a visit to the Superior Plumbing VECTR Center to serve our students and community, please complete the VECTR Community Partner request form.
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