Albany Mayor Dorothy Hubbard and her Coalition for Economic Development will host a public forum
on workplace readiness on Wednesday, August 29, focusing in on soft skills training and employer expectations.

Presentations will come from Connie Smith, director of the Georgia Department of Labor’s “GeorgiaBEST” (Business Employability Skills Training) program, Terrence Wilson of the Georgia Appleseed Center for Law and Justice and Benny Hand from Dougherty County’s “All-In” campaign for education, an initiative of the Georgia Appleseed Center.

All three organizations serve a mission of preparing students and job candidates for the workplace.

“Albany’s competitiveness as a business destination depends on the readiness of its workforce, both in terms of soft skills and hard skills, and that readiness begins early in life – at home, in the schools and through extracurricular activities,” said Albany Mayor Dorothy Hubbard.“ The Department of Labor’s GeorgiaBEST Program and the All-In initiative of Georgia Appleseed are two programs working to ensure that our young people are set for success before they enter the workforce.”

The event will offer advice on how job candidates can become more prepared for the workplace, and will explain what the presenting organizations are doing to address workplace readiness trends in Dougherty County and across the state of Georgia such as soft skills training, encouragement of educational achievement and increasing preparedness on employer expectations.

The August 29 forum is free to the public and will be held from 4 p.m. – 6 p.m. in room 100 of the Government Center, located at 222 Pine Avenue in downtown Albany. Light refreshments will be served in the lobby following the event.

The program is an edition in a series of forums organized by the Mayor’s Coalition for Economic Development designed to increase public awareness of matters relating to economic development or economic impact in our community.