Goodwill to build career training, community center in Atlanta

Atlanta is on tap to get a new career training and community center that could provide job assistance to at least 8,000 residents each year.

Goodwill of North Georgia will build a 38,000-squarefoot building along Metropolitan Parkway in southwest Atlanta with the help of a $500,000 grant from the city’s economic develop- ment agency Invest Atlanta.

Dubbed a “Center for Workforce Innovation,” the building will house about 50 full-time and five part-time employees that will help residents find jobs and develop professional skills.

The nonprofit purchased the property from a private entity in December for $817,500, according to Fulton County property records. The organization already has 13 career centers in North Georgia, CEO Keith Parker said.

Based on initial estimates, Parker said, the nonprofit will pump roughly $10 million into the center and is still searching for donors and other funding.

The project has received $150,000 from the Metropolitan Parkway Tax Allo- cation District to help cover construction costs.

“When you look at Atlanta, it’s almost a city divided in terms of economics, household income, graduation rates, and a whole host of other things,” Parker said. “South of I-20 tends to be a bit behind the rest of the city.”

The site sits in Atlanta’s District 12, an area with a majority-black population and that has nearly a 38% poverty rate compared to the city’s overall 22% poverty rate.

The nearest Goodw ill career center to Atlanta is the South DeKalb location on 1295 Columbia Drive in Decatur. Last year, roughly 8,000 people visited that center and nearly half found jobs through the nonprofit, Parker said. The organization broke ground on another location along Old National

Road on Monday.

Parker said he hopes they will break ground on the Atlanta location sometime this year.

In the meantime, the organization plans to meet with community leaders to figure out the specific needs of the community.

“It’s an area that has seen its share of difficulty, and so we want to be a part of a catalytic moment,” Parker said.