The Georgia Department of Education, in partnership with the Georgia Economic Developers Association and Georgia Power, has selected the Ware County School District to receive the Economic Development Partnership designation for Fiscal Year 2024.
Ware County was one of four systems across the state to receive the award. The designation is part of Georgia’s Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education program.
Districts receiving the EDP designation participated in a certification process that prepared them to adopt best practices and behaviors that support economic development and align education with key regional industries.
The EDP program elevates the capacity of school systems to serve as an essential part of the community in business recruitment and as a catalyst for talent development.
For students, EDP promotes increased Work-Based Learning and Youth Apprenticeship opportunities, additional exposure to local business and industry, and careerrelevant classroom content.
“These school systems contribute to the economic development efforts of their community by cultivating a strong workforce development ecosystem through strategic careerrelated opportunities for students, high-level stakeholder engagement practices, and operating energized CTAE programs,” said Dr. Barbara Wall, Deputy Superintendent for CTAE with the state education department. “This designation certifies that the school system in these four communities is at the center of local workforce development activities. Statewide, we’re committed to doing our part to ensure Georgia remains the number one state for doing business.”
Dr. Lynn Barber, director of the county’s CTAE program, was elated with the honor.
“Our schools must view themselves as partners in economic development,” said Barber, who will become the school system’s superintendent in December with the retirement of Bert Smith. “Our goal must be to continually prepare students for the workforce. We have numerous opportunities here locally and we want to make sure that our students continue to make Ware County stronger.
“I’m grateful for our local community making this partnership possible.”
Jason Rubenbauer, President and CEO of the Waycross-Ware County Development Authority, helped throughout the EDP process.
Rubenbauer had this to say regarding the award designation, “One of the biggest challenges in our country today is providing a highly qualified workforce for our existing businesses and industries. It’s also one of the strongest recruitment tools when trying to attract new companies into an area to help these industries obtain full operational levels as quickly as possible.
“The EDP designation is extremely valuable to Waycross and Ware County and our region as a whole, as it allows our K-12 educational system to engage with our existing businesses and industries and other community leaders to ensure we are preparing our future workforce to succeed right here at home.”
CTAE leaders in each EDP-designated district, along with community stakeholders, worked closely with the EDP team over the course of the year through a series of virtual meetings, a site visit, and required documentation submission.
In Ware County, the local school and industry leaders gave the state committee an overview of economic development efforts and toured two sites that have partnered with the school district. The sites were Baptist Village, which represented the healthcare industry, and Clayton Homes for the manufacturing industry.
