GEDA's 2016 Spring Workshop comes to St Simons Island

GEDA’s 2016 Spring Workshop comes to St Simons Island

Economic Developers from all around Georgia are coming to St Simons Island for the Georgia Economic Developer’s Association’s (GEDA) Spring conference to learn how to address an issue that is of critical importance to the State’s continued economic growth and development; and that is workforce.

Spring Workshop 2016-Georgia’s Workforce: Lighting the Way

GEDA’s Spring Workshop is going to largely be about workforce development. As Baby Boomers are retiring in record numbers and technology is becoming increasingly central to every job and industry sector – workforce has quickly moved to the forefront of the Economic Development Industry. Having a quality labor force is now the primary factor in business location decisions and communities that can supply the workforce are the communities that are seeing economic growth and development.

Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) Board Meeting on St Simons

Not only is GEDA’s Spring Workshop on St Simons this year, but the GDEcD will be holding their Board Meeting on St Simons as well. Mel Baxter, Interim Director of the Brunswick – Glynn County Development Authority stated “having GDEcD’s Board meet in Glynn County is great because we get to showcase our area to a group that may not get to come this far south too often. Brunswick and Glynn County has a lot to offer and this event is going to bring a lot of exposure to our area.”

“Bridging the Gap Between Business and Education”

John Scott, also with the Brunswick – Glynn County Development Authority, serves as the Chair for GEDA’s Business Retention and Expansion (BRE) Committee – which is in charge of putting a session together for the Spring Workshop. The BRE Committee focuses on sharing and developing best practices for providing support to a community’s existing industries. Scott stated “since the Spring Workshop is about workforce development, our committee felt the first step is to hear directly from industry leaders about the challenges they’re facing and what they’re doing to solve the problem.”

The BRE Committe’s session, “Bridging the Gap Between Business and Education,” is on May 18 from 2:30 to 3:30 in the Frederica Room at Sea Palms. The session has speakers from Precision Products (Jeff Davis County), Gulfstream Aerospace (Brunswick) and JCB North America (Savannah).

GEDA’s Best Spring Workshop Ever?

More than 280 people have signed for this conference making the 2016 Spring Conference the most well attended in GEDA’s history.

The conference is at Sea Palms on St Simons Island from noon on May 18 to noon on May 20, 2016. Session topics mostly focus on workforce development but range from Georgia’s economic and political climate to the GRAD Certification process. There’s also some time allotted for enjoying the Golden Isles. Attendees get to choose between a tour of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (aka FLETC or Glynco), golf at the Brunswick Country Club, participate in a fishing tournament, go on a shrimping tour aboard the “RV Georgia Bulldog” or simply hang out on the beach.