The 18‑month Appalachian Regional Commission INSPIRE planning grant focuses on programming for those with substance abuse disorders.
CEDARTOWN, Ga. — Georgia Tech’s Center for Economic Development Research (CEDR) and the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP) are leading an 18‑month Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) Investments Supporting Partnerships in Recovery Ecosystems (INSPIRE) planning grant to design a structured workforce model that connects individuals in recovery from substance abuse with manufacturing careers in Northwest Georgia.
Over 18 months, CEDR and GaMEP — both programs of Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute — will use the $56,731 grant to conduct research. The teams will use findings from that research to build manufacturing workforce pipelines in Polk, Floyd, and Chattooga counties.
This is not the first time the two groups have worked together. Their collaboration spans nearly a decade and is connected to iWORKS, an employer‑led consortium created to address Northwest Georgia’s manufacturing workforce needs. iWORKS grew out of the High Demand Career Initiative regional planning effort led by CEDR in 2017, and since then CEDR and GaMEP have partnered closely with chambers of commerce, workforce boards, economic developers, educators, and community organizations to strengthen local economies by addressing employment gaps.
One result of that collaboration is Project Purpose, created to prepare high school seniors without post‑graduation plans for careers in manufacturing. CEDR and GaMEP expanded Project Purpose to serve people impacted by the justice system, with a pilot program in the Polk County jail that combined online instruction through Tooling-U with onsite feedback from GaMEP experts.
The Polk County initiative took a holistic approach to workforce development, matching real skills with open jobs while acting as a nexus for the justice system, employers, and participants.
“It really starts with manufacturers. You’ve got to have a pull,” said John Zegers, Northwest Georgia region manager for GaMEP. “There has been a lot of economic development growth in Georgia, and there are always jobs in manufacturing, especially in the parts of the state that I serve. What we do is connect people to those opportunities.”
The INSPIRE planning grant will further expand the focus of Project Purpose to include individuals with substance‑use disorders. One of the biggest challenges faced by this population is finding employment upon release from a treatment or correctional centers.
“There’s a big drug problem in Northwest Georgia, as there is across the United States,” Zegers said. “Rural counties don’t always have the resources to deal with it, which is why we’re building stronger connections among employers, the corrections system, and community support organizations.”
The grant’s planning period will chart the region’s recovery‑to‑work ecosystem, taking into account employer needs, transportation, housing, childcare, and recovery support. CEDR and GaMEP will conduct community needs and workforce assessments, employer surveys, and focus groups to determine the skills required by different manufacturers. They will also examine secondary factors that will help participants maintain steady employment.
“We’re using what the GaMEP team built in Polk County as our foundation,” said Candice McKie, senior project manager at CEDR. “The ARC grant is purely for planning, and once that is completed, we’ll be able to go in and establish Project Purpose programs in Floyd and Chattooga counties.” Ultimately, CEDR and GaMEP aim to expand the program to other counties in the region and state.
A key partner in the grant is Highland Rivers Behavioral Health, which will help employers understand how to support employees in recovery and how to connect workers with peer support and case management
Said Alexandria Sanford, grant and strategic partnership manager at Highland Rivers, “Meaningful employment is an essential part of recovery for individuals struggling with substance-use disorders. Leveraging this partnership creates a stronger regional ecosystem within our state that enables individuals and employers to better understand and work with one another.”
Zegers emphasized that maintaining trusted relationships across different sectors of a community is essential to Project Purpose. “I’ve worked with these manufacturers for years, and they feel comfortable talking to me about their needs in terms of new employees,” he said. “Through this program, those relationships have expanded to include sheriffs, corrections, and the judicial system. It’s important to get buy‑in and participation from everyone involved.”
For McKie, the partnership between CEDR and GaMEP is a symbiotic one. “John works directly with manufacturers, and we work with communities as economists, city planners, and economic development practitioners,” she said. “Those things go hand in hand. Employers thrive when communities thrive, and vice versa. Multiple people benefit from this collaboration.”
The ARC INSPIRE planning grant is shaping the future of Project Purpose programs in Floyd and Chattooga counties while strengthening ongoing work in Polk, so CEDR and GaMEP can continue to refine an alternative workforce development model that allows residents of Northwest Georgia build careers close to home.