Around the country, more local and state leaders are starting to understand that there has to be a proactive approach to dealing with the impending labor shortfall.  The shortage is already starting to hit some builders and other businesses in Texas, and it will only get worse if current trends hold.

In Georgia, they’ve started a program to address this called “Go Build Georgia”.  It includes big-time promotion from big-name talent: Mike Rowe of Mike Rowe Works and Discovery Channel’s “Dirty Jobs”.  State and industry leaders are working together with educators to try to get kids excited about the idea of a career in the skilled trades.

Governor Nathan Deal’s office put together some statistics that are truly alarming, including:   Read more » about Is “Go Build Georgia” a Model for the Nation?

Last year I reported that Go Build has its roots in Alabama.  On January 17, 2012, Governor Nathan Deal announced the launch of the Go Build Georgia initiative.  The goal of the initiative is to address the shortage of workers for skilled trades.  Like Go Build Alabama, the initiative will focus on public outreach to educate the citizens of Georgia on the availability of career opportunities that exist today in construction.   In the following video, Governor Deal introduces the initiative.  He states:

“Everyone knows that this is a difficult job market, but not as many know that Georgia is projected to create approximately 16,500 openings in skilled trades in the next year alone.  Go Build is about providing Georgians with the training that they need to fill these positions.”   Read more » about Go Build Takes on Georgia