b'With this information we can begin working with our educational partners to properly prepare students for jobs in our region. - BARBARA GROGANfood processing and manufacturingThe JDA secured the services ofas well, and seeing what skillsets their companies in the region.Russ Moore, owner of Seamlessindustry and particular businesses may Education Associates, torequire as they evolve with consumer Many workers in our area areadminister the survey, preparedemand and technology.considered essential and had to movedata analysis, and methods of to shift work to keep things going,response.In the survey summary, Moore says he says Gilchrist who serves as chair ofwill provide an overview of the results the JDA. As COVID-19 continued, itInformation and data collectedand specific data by county. We are became more apparent that we needwill assist the JDA in workingprotecting the respondents data. For to ensure we have a properly trainedwith public school systems andinstance, there wont be reporting on and available workforce.technical colleges and universitieshow many nurses a specific hospital within the region to developneeds to hire, but we will aggregate the Barbara Grogan, president of thecurriculum, training programs,need by region and county for specific Moultrie-Colquitt County Developmentand work-based learningjob title, employment by sector, training Authority, agrees that COVID-19 hasopportunities that representand education, and several other heightened workforce issues. Theemployers most pressingcategories. pandemic gave our businesses moreworkforce needs.reasons or value in answering theShared Workforcesurvey. The employment shift wasIve been doing this work for 20Using a regional approach, survey out of their control, but it showed theyears, and this survey receivedparticipants represented businesses need for a steady pipeline of workers. the most responses Ive everwithin the JDAs five-county region, seen, says Moore. Im verywhich routinely share employees that Identifying future skillsets can be aenthusiastic about the responselive and work in different counties.challenge. According to a study byto a completely voluntary survey Dell Technologies, 85 percent of jobswith nearly 100 questions. ThatIn Georgia, with 159 countiesthe in the next ten years havent beensays a lot about the interest andsecond-highest behind Texas with invented. commitment of the respondents254its not uncommon to live and in the region to their workforcework in different counties. Having We asked our regional industries tocounties tightly clustered together consider their workforce needs nowneeds.helps form regional labor markets, and in five to ten years, says Grogan,Moving to the projects nextwhich are advantageous when With this information, we can beginphase, Grogan says, The datapresenting workforce numbers to working with our educational partnerscollected through the survey willindustry prospects. to properly prepare students for jobshelp ensure we can meet the in our region. demands of current businessesBetween our counties, we share a workforce, says Gilchrist. Students in 46 SG MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2020'