Tech workshop tour coming to Scottsboro
‘GROW WITH GOOGLE’
As the new home to a $600 million Google Data Center, Jackson County, Alabama, also will join two other Alabama cities in hosting the international company’s “Grow with Google” tour of workshops designed to help job seekers and small business owners learn the skills they need for the increasingly digital world.
“Alabama is a center for innovation, entrepreneurship and manufacturing. By bringing the ‘Grow with Google’ tour to the state, we are making a commitment to help develop a skilled workforce that can meet the needs of Alabama’s growing economy,” Google’s head of Community Engagement Erica Swanson said in a statement.
Organizers of the events said instruction “will enable job seekers to grow their skills and advance their careers,” officials said. The workshop “can provide small business owners with tips to increase their online presence and find new customers and assist startups in generating exposure for their ideas.”
Jackson County Economic Development Agency project manager Nathan Lee already is enrolled.
“I’m pretty tech-savvy,” Lee said. “I signed up for ‘digital skills for your community.’”
Lee said there were offerings for anyone at any level of ability, and it could be especially beneficial for job seekers who would like to work at the data center. According to registration information, in addition to the training Lee is taking, the Scottsboro event will offer three other areas of focus; Get Found on Google Search and Maps, Reach Customers Online with Google and Get Started with Email, Spreadsheets and Presentations.
“Grow with Google is now excited to support Alabama small businesses and job-seekers by offering free, in-person digital skills workshops and coaching. We want to do our part to help equip workers and businesses with the digital skills they need to compete in the economy of today and tomorrow,” Swanson said.
“Google helped provide $703 million of economic activity for Alabama businesses, website publishers and nonprofits in 2017,” she said. “And this past April, we broke ground on a new data center in Jackson County.”
Google is building its data center in Jackson County on 360 acres of the 2,000-acre site of the shuttered Widows Creek Fossil Plant. The former TVA plant shut down in 2015 after generating coal-fired electricity for TVA for 63 years. At its peak, Widows Creek had more than 500 employees and provided hundreds of other support jobs in the region.
In April 2018, Google officially broke ground and, once fully operational, expects to employ 75 to 100 people in a variety of full-time and contractor roles, including computer technicians, engineers, and various food services, maintenance and security roles, according to company information about the center.
Google is building its Bridgeport facility — and another similar data center on another former TVA site in Clarksville, Tenn. — to help meet growing demand in the Southeast for cloud-based services, searches and video streaming. A training event is planned for Clarksville in August, too.
“We’re excited about our new data center in Jackson County and [want] to build strong relationships with the entire community,” Google spokesman Peter Schottenfels said on Thursday.
Schottenfels said the training is “for learners of all levels.”
“By bringing the Grow with Google tour to Alabama, we are making a commitment to help develop a skilled workforce that can meet the needs of Alabama’s growing economy,” he said.
The Scottsboro Public Library is hosting the event in Jackson County.
In additional to helping business owners and people looking for work, the event “will provide a great opportunity for nonprofit and community organizations to learn about the different tools Google has to offer,” Scottsboro Public Library director Laura Pitts said.
Rick Roden, president and CEO of Mountain Lakes Chamber of Commerce in Jackson County, said the training workshop is another Google benefit for the entire community.
Job seekers can potentially “learn skills that will help them get the kind of job that will truly make a change in their lives,” Roden said. “And all of this training is free. I encourage everyone to take advantage of this awesome opportunity.”
While training is free, participants must preregister online.
Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@ timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569. Follow him on Twitter @BenBenton or at www.facebook.com/ benbenton1.
“By bringing the Grow with Google tour to Alabama, we are making a commitment to help develop a skilled workforce that can meet the needs of Alabama’s growing economy.”
– GOOGLE SPOKESMAN PETER SCHOTTENFELS