The Be Pro Be Proud Mobile Workshop will be hosted in Middle Georgia for three separate weeks beginning with Macon-Bibb County from Tuesday – Friday, September 21-24, 2021, at the Macon Farmer’s Market (2055 Eisenhower Parkway) from 8:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. It will then be in Baldwin County from November 8-13, 2021, and Houston County from April 12-16, 2022. Each site will have chances for all Middle Georgia counties to participate, and they will work with the local school districts’ Career, Technical and Agricultural Education (CTAE) programs to have students in attendance.

“The need for skilled workers has never been greater,” says Tiffany Andrews, Director of Workforce Development with WorkSource Macon-Bibb. “Prior to the COVID-19 global pandemic, all industry sectors were feeling a void in the workforce from people approaching retirement, and that has now been exacerbated by additional vacancies opening from more retirements and people switching jobs.”

“Students must graduate college or career ready, which means they must be prepared for post-secondary, military, or the workforce. Presently, the lack of skilled employees is a huge problem in Georgia with a shortage of 61,000 or more employees reported in 2019,” says Cassandra Miller-Washington, Bibb County School District Executive Director of CTAE and CEO of Hutchings College and Career Academy. “Bibb County CTAE has partnered with WorkSource Macon-Bibb to provide students with an opportunity to see skilled trade careers through virtual simulations.”

WorkSource Macon-Bibb (WSMB) and WorkSource Middle Georgia (WSMG) partnered with the Cherokee Office of Economic Development to bring the state-of-the-art, interactive Be Pro Be Proud Mobile Workshop to Middle Georgia. It is a 40-foot open air trailer that features five highly interactive simulations of Georgia’s most in-demand skilled professions, including commercial truck driving, health care, plumbing, welding, and robotics. Utilizing the latest digital and virtual technology, each simulation places students directly into a skilled profession where they learn important career information and complete skills challenges.  Additionally, the initiative focuses on changing the mindsets of students, parents, and educators on the importance of the skilled trades. 

“Be Pro Be Proud will create a mind shift for our students by increasing their knowledge about the opportunities in the skilled trade profession by connecting the dots,” adds Dr. Washington. “Providing this opportunity will build a future-ready talent pipeline for the Macon-Bibb County community.”

The Greater Macon Chamber of Commerce and the Macon-Bibb County Industrial Authority have partnered with both WorkSource areas to ensure the success of this event. In addition to the Be Pro Be Proud Trailer, Central Georgia Technical College will be on site to connect a student’s career path with the necessary training that is needed to be successful. Building upon Macon-Bibb County’s Board of Education 3E’s (Education, Employment or Enlisted), there will also be recruiters on site to answer any questions a student may have about enlisting. Furthermore, there will be industry partners available to discuss employment opportunities in the high demand careers. The Industrial Authority is coordinating lunch and drinks for the students.

“We are proud to support the Be Pro Be Proud initiative and our youth in training for the jobs of today and tomorrow,” says Industrial Authority Executive Director Stephen Adams. “The critical skills they learn benefit our large industries in Macon-Bibb county and our community as a whole.”

Along with the Mobile Workshop, the Be Pro Be Proud website promotes 15 skilled professions with 10 percent or more growth potential and links to training and area industries that are hiring. Students can “Join the Movement” at  www.beprobeproudga.org, which connects students with education and career opportunities.

WorkSource Macon-Bibb (WSMB) and WorkSource Middle Georgia (WSMG), in coordination with the Governor’s High Demand Career Initiative (HDCI) and the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG), have been focused on identifying creative ways to back-fill the workforce pipeline to help address these vacancies by providing targeted training programs and other career pathways. One focus of those programs is to get more high school students interested in the available jobs and signed up for the proper education and training programs.