The Construction Education Foundation of Georgia (CEFGA) is offering a second session of its “Construction Ready” program in Gwinnett County beginning August 16, 2021. Construction Ready takes Georgians through a free 20-day construction education program that ends with training, credentialing and job placement. 

The Gwinnett training facility will be located at the HB Next facility in Lawrenceville (map). For more information and to register, applicants need to visit -  https://constructionready.org/career-seekers/overview/. 

Since 2014, CEFGA through the Construction Ready program has trained more than 1,000 workers of all ages for a successful career in construction. Successes of the program include: 

• 97% job placement by end of training
• Average starting salary of $12-15/hour
• 70% of participants employed with same company one year later

“We are excited to continue to offer the Construction Ready program in Gwinnett,” says CEFGA President and CEO Scott Shelar. “There are construction jobs in the midst of this pandemic and we need Georgians trained and certified to fill those positions.”

The goal of the Construction Ready program is to help close the workforce skills gap. The need for skilled workers has continued through the pandemic.Indeed.com currently lists over 3,000 construction job openings in Gwinnett County. Closing this skills gap by educating more Georgians about careers in the skilled professions is CEFGA’s primary goal.

The offering in the Gwinnett region is part of a major growth of the program across Georgia, financed in part by the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) fund (a part of the CARES Act). In August 2020, Governor Kemp announced CEFGA was selected to receive $3.3 million to expand the Construction Ready program. The GEER funding supports broadband and connectivity extensions, mental health services, workforce training, childcare, and tech innovation.

“It’s great to see CEFGA allocating Georgia’s GEER funding so quickly in Gwinnett County as part of the Construction Ready program,” said Georgia Governor Brian Kemp. “These are challenging times for our state, but we will continue to work around the clock to support our students and teachers, improve outcomes, and get hardworking Georgians back to work.”