Engineering and technology concepts in schools
The executives' overarching message — that finding Georgia talent with the right skills is often difficult— wasn't new but still unsettled some audience members during months of meetings focused on specific industries.
In a wide-ranging report released Wednesday, the state laid out potential fixes including a push for money to provide HOPE grants to students of high-demand skills, language credits for computer science courses and a University of Georgia-run "film academy" to train more workers for the TV and film industry drawn here by tax incentives. HOPE grants are for residents working toward a certificate or diploma at an eligible Georgia college or university.
Long term, companies also pushed for earlier introduction of science, mathematics, engineering and technology concepts in schools and better development of so-called "soft skills" in young people — communication and critical thinking, for example. Others said they struggled to find employees with basic reading and math skills.
Chris Carr, chairman of the state Department of Economic Development, told lawmakers this week at a pre-session conference that the effort was a "proactive search to talk to Georgia companies."