The Gateway Initiative team held an investor breakfast at The Port at The Wharf on Tuesday, Dec. 14 to discuss the strides being made in local workforce development. The initiative, a collaboration between the South Baldwin Chamber and the Coastal Alabama Business Chamber, is a 5-year capital project designed to help the community’s workforce, education and local businesses, and to forge strong bonds and partnerships between other chambers and municipalities. Before heading into 2022, the Gateway team took time to discuss what has been accomplished in 2021.
Workforce Development Training
“What we try to do each and every year is our Gateway Training Academy,” said Ed Bushaw, vice president of workforce development. “The last time that we did this report we were at about 200% of the number that we put out to train, but COVID made things a little more difficult this year and the in-person meetings couldn’t happen.”
Despite the difficulties, 83 people were trained through the Gateway Initiative’s partnership with the Auburn Technical Assistance Center (ATAC).
“We don’t do all the training ourselves; we go to a lot of our partners to get it done, and why not go to a business school that’s very strong in that regard?” Bushaw said.
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