As part of the Governor’s High Demand Career Initiative, the Georgia Department of Economic Development recently released plans for HDCI Sector Partnerships and a competitive grant opportunity offering regions up to $250,000 in funding. HDCI Sector Partnerships and accompanying grants aim to assist Georgia’s workforce developers by supporting the creation of effective sector partnerships within their respective regions. HDCI Sector Partnerships are designed to strengthen and expand collaboration among regional partners in order to better understand and address workforce needs. These partnerships will also help align the talent acquisition and workforce development needs of employers in a targeted sector with the training and education programs in that region.

“By leveraging Georgia’s strong economic development infrastructure, these grants will help promote regional workforce development,” said Chris Carr, Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development. “This is about engaging employers and creating a quality workforce for the future.”

Each of Georgia’s 12 economic development regions will have the opportunity to apply for up to $250,000 that can be used over a two-year period by Local Workforce Development Regions and their partners. The HDCI Sector Partnership Grants will further assist with the efforts that have already begun throughout the state, encourage the adoption of an all-inclusive strategy for sector partnerships and encourage Local Workforce Development Boards to be a catalyst in forming and sustaining sector partnerships.

“Georgia is in a great position to further expand the innovative programmatic offerings and overall workforce system capacity across the state,” said Ben Hames, Deputy Commissioner of Workforce, Georgia Department of Economic Development. “We are excited to offer this funding opportunity to our regions to continue the good work of HDCI in identifying and addressing workforce needs.”

HDCI Sector Partnership Grants are designed to provide sufficient funding to support a regional convener (either full-time employee(s) or consulting team) to assist with the regional work. The grants will be used to support Governor Deal’s vision for an employer-driven workforce system, as demonstrated through the creation of HDCI.

“The data and information collected by HDCI through discussions with over 130 employers has allowed us to provide a more accurate outlook of statewide workforce needs,” said Jamie Jordan, HDCI Program Manager, Georgia Department of Economic Development. “However, this data fails to provide adequate details for developing solutions at the local and regional levels. Therefore, the HDCI Sector Partnerships will serve as a key tool in implementing those solutions regionally.”

GDEcD will work with regions throughout the state to assist with implementation of the HDCI Sector Partnerships. GDEcD will also develop and share a HDCI Sector Partnership Guide to assist regions in building a framework for ongoing partnership and communication between public and private sectors. To assist regional partners with this process, GDEcD will host 12 regional workshops with key stakeholders in October and November of 2016.