Hit the Ground Running

Whether through the state’s top-top ranking institutions of higher education or the No. 1 workforce development program in the country, Georgia takes pride in its diverse, talented and enthusiastic workforce. With a labor force of 5.1 million — the second largest labor force in the Southeast — Georgia is an ideal place to locate for businesses of every size, from small business to global conglomerates. 

Even as the state continues to recover from job losses resulting from the pandemic, Georgia’s commitment to staying “Open for Business” is bearing fruit. In September, Georgia’s unemployment rate dropped for the sixteenth straight month to 3.5%. And Georgia’s model workforce training program, Georgia Quick Start, keeps producing results for businesses and the overall economy.

“Georgians are getting back to work and our economy continues to beat expectations, thanks to the resiliency of Georgia’s job creators and our efforts to protect both lives and livelihoods over the last eighteen months,” said Governor Brian P. Kemp. “As the top state for business for the eighth year in a row, my administration will continue to be laser-focused on attracting good-paying jobs, strengthening our workforce pipeline, and keeping Georgia open for business.” 

Georgia Quick Start

Operated by the Technical College System of Georgia, the Georgia Quick Start program provides free workforce training tailored to the needs of the employer, resulting in better-trained, highly productive employees and reduced ramp-up time. 

The flexible training program is available for a wide variety of industries including advanced manufacturing, automotive, aviation, bioscience, business operations, distribution, and food production. 

Georgia Quick Start has trained more than 1 million employees around the state based on the unique needs of their employers. As the first program of its kind and the No. 1 ranked workforce training program in the U.S., Quick Start is a national model with more than five decades of experience partnering with education and industry. 

Quick Start operates several specialty centers across the state. 

• Advanced Manufacturing: The new Georgia Advanced Manufacturing Center is a 48,000-sq.-ft. center is networked with five of the state’s technical colleges in the region surrounding Savannah. The center offers a variety of customized training programs including mechatronics, control systems, automation and robotics. 
• Aviation: Located on the campus of Savannah Technical College, the college and Gulfstream have partners to train avionics technicians, airframe and power plant mechanics in a 30,000-sq.-ft. center and 5,000-sq.-ft. hangar for hands-on learning. 
• Bioscience: The Georgia Bioscience Training Center in Stanton Springs offers state-of-the-art technology used by many life science companies. The 40,000-sq.-ft. facility opened in 2015 to support pharmaceutical company, Shire, which had just opened a new plasma fractionation plant. 

In addition to Quick Start, additional industry-specific training operate in the state in strategic industries to ensure a ready and able workforce. These include:

• Cybersecurity: The Georgia Cyber Center in Augusta opened in 2018, and as of 2019 the center represents the single-largest investment in a cybersecurity made by a state in the U.S. The center offers several levels of cyber education from certificates to graduate-level programs.  
• Film: The Georgia Film Academy is a highly acclaimed center offering industry-related courses through the University System of Georgia and the Technical College System of Georgia. Credits earned through the academy can be applied toward two- and four-year degrees. 
• Fintech: A new online academy has been developed in partnership with the state’s fintech employers to train employees no matter where they live in the state. The Georgia Fintech Academy offers training through Georgia’s public colleges and universities’ eCampus and cloud-based programs.