Northwest Georgia leaders converged Thursday at Northwestern Technical College to discuss getting a work force ready to meet the demands of the state’s growing “Auto Alley” corridor.

Meanwhile, a German delegation met with area Chamber of Commerce leaders at Chickamauga’s Gordon Lee Mansion to begin forging a relationship that local leaders hope will eventually land a Volkswagen supplier in Northwest Georgia.

Rich Hammond, project leader for the Northwest Georgia Auto Alley initiative, said workers that will continue to draw automotive industry to Northwest Georgia “must be trainable, reliable, cooperative, and promotable — workers who can exercise independent judgment and who are well-matched to companies’ needs.”

Walker County joins with other Northwest Georgia counties such as Catoosa, Dade, Chattooga, Floyd and Polk to make up the Auto Alley corridor.

Hammond said such automotive suppliers have already begun locating in the area, such as Nissin Brake in Rock Spring, which supplies parts to companies like Honda and Harley Davidson, and Unique Fabrication in LaFayette, which supplies parts to companies like Nissan.

Hammond said at Thursday’s meeting -- which included government, business and education leaders, including representatives from the Walker County, Chickamauga City and Catoosa County school systems and Northwestern Tech -- that the potential for more automotive support industry coming to the area is good.

“We are uniquely in the center of automotive activity, with Honda operating to the west in Lincoln, Alabama, and KIA to the south at West Point, Georgia, and now Volkswagen to the north in Chattanooga,” Hammond said.

Hammond said that when state officials dubbed the Northwest corridor of the state “Auto Alley,” their intention was simply to draw support industry to KIA’s new facility being built in West Point.

“Little did we realize we would have the opportunity to help recruit Volkswagen to Chattanooga,” Hammond said. “But things are falling into place for the area to capitalize on this growing automotive support industry.”

Work Ready program

Hammond spent a great deal of his time promoting Georgia’s Work Ready program that is currently being used by many companies across the state to match potential employees with the jobs their companies offer.

According to numbers distributed Northwestern Tech at Thursday’s meeting, 445 Walker County residents have achieved a certificate through the Work Ready program, while Catoosa has 447.

Work Ready was created through Gov. Sonny Perdue’s office to ensure that Georgia’s workers have the best skills, easy access to training, and world-class job opportunities. The backbone of the initiative is the worker certification program that assesses the real world skills of Georgia’s workers and provides job training. Combined with an innovative job profiling process that identifies what kind of worker a company needs, the program is helping Georgia workers secure better job opportunities.

Hammond said the program assesses skills in applied mathematics, reading for information and locating information. “These three skills are highly important to the majority of jobs in the workplace.”

Hammond said the program is designed to bridge any gaps that potential companies looking at the area may encounter with work skills demonstrated by area residents.

“If gaps exist in the skills demonstrated by workers on our assessment with that of what a company has determined for a particular job, we hope to provide training that will bridge the gap,” Hammond said.

“We must continue to encourage our students to finish high school and to take full advantage of the educational opportunities that are available to them if we are going to see additional industry come to the area,” he said.

Hammond said the Work Ready program is a free service that the state pays for to both residents who are seeking jobs in today’s competitive job market and to companies that choose to locate in the state looking for qualified workers.

Anyone interested in the Work Ready program is in encouraged to contact Northwestern Technical College for more in formation.

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