Governor Perdue Announces Work Ready Golden Opportunity Grants

ATLANTA – Governor Sonny Perdue today announced 24 Work Ready Golden Opportunity grants have been awarded to state agencies and organizations providing Work Ready skills gap training to help citizens improve their core job skills and earn gold-level Work Ready Certificates.

“The Work Ready Certificate shows that an individual is skilled and ready to succeed at jobs throughout our state,” said Governor Perdue. “By helping our citizens reach the gold level we are showing that Georgia is an ideal place to do grow or locate a business.”

The grant award winners include: Altamaha Technical College Academic Support Center, Atlanta Regional Commission, Albany Technical College Adult Education, Athens Technical College Adult Education, Atlanta Urban League, Bainbridge College, Berrien County Chamber of Commerce, Central Georgia Technical Adult Education, Columbus Technical College, Cobb County Adult Education, East Central Tech Adult Education, Georgia Northwestern Technical College Adult Education, Moultrie Technical College Adult Education, Jenkins County Family Enrichment Center, Lanier Technical College Adult Education, Middle Georgia Technical College, Monroe County Adult Literacy Program, Muscogee County School District Adult Education, Okefenokee Technical College, Southeastern Technical College, Valdosta Technical College Adult Education, Valdosta Technical College Foundation for Brooks County, Valdosta Technical College Foundation for Cook County and VSNS (Visions, Inc.).

Each agency or organization will receive a reimbursement grant of $200 for each Georgian who successfully improves their Work Ready Certificate level through skills gap training, for up to $10,000.

“These grants will help Georgians reach their career goals,” said Debra Lyons, director, Governor’s Office of Workforce Development. “By helping more people improve their core job skills, we can help them get to work and achieve job success.”

About Work Ready

Georgia’s Work Ready initiative is based on a skills assessment and certification for job seekers and a job profiling system for businesses. By identifying both the needs of business and the available skills of Georgia’s workforce, the state can more effectively generate the right talent for the right jobs.

For more information on the Work Ready initiative please visit the Web site at www.gaworkready.org

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