THOMASVILLE — The Thomasville Community Resource Center, in partnership with Imagine Thomasville announced the launch of The Workforce Plan, a comprehensive community needs assessment initiative for Thomasville-Thomas County. 

The Workforce Plan is a multisector look at the birth-to-work pipeline of Thomas County.  This work builds off the Thomas County Family Connections Partnership’s recent community assessment of children and families in the county, with a focus on the workforce pipeline.  The assessment will include perspectives from early learning, K-12, post-secondary, industry, economic development, disconnected workers, and other stakeholders. 

The Workforce Plan will form a comprehensive understanding of the local workforce supply and demand to inform an aligned, community-wide strategy to strengthen the pipeline. The initiative is funded by the Williams Family Foundation and led by the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education (GPEE), a nonprofit, nonpartisan educational policy organization with 30 years of experience supporting Georgia’s education and workforce development.  

“The last two years have had significant impacts on our community, and in order to recover — and flourish — we need to know where we are now,” said Lisa Billups of the Thomasville Community Resource Center.  “This comprehensive needs assessment project will help us assess our current landscape all the way from birth to the workforce, including education, industry, and community leaders as well as some of our most disconnected and underserved communities.” 

In a fast-changing environment deeply impacted by the COVID crisis as well as regional and national economic trends, the Workforce Plan will form a current snapshot of Thomas County’s economic, educational, and community needs. This snapshot will then serve as the foundation for Thomas County leaders and community members to identify aligned strategies to address those needs, build on strengths, and support the community.  The work will take place over a year in three phases:

Interviews and focus groups

The Georgia Partnership will connect with community members from all sectors to discuss and identify strengths, assets, needs, and challenges within Thomas County and Southwest Georgia.

Economic and Educational research

Research on national, state, and regional economic and educational trends will put the initial findings into a context of wider impacts and projections for the workforce pipeline.

Strategic Goals and Priorities

Leaders will reconvene to assess findings and determine next steps, working together across sectors in alignment toward shared community goals of prosperity, economic development, and a robust workforce pipeline.

“We need to know where we are so we can know how to move forward strategically, efficiently, and effectively.  The Workforce Plan seeks to help us do just that,” said Andrea Collins of Imagine Thomasville.

For more information or to be a part of the initiative, contact Merrill Kemp-Wilcox at mwilcox@gpee.org