Goodwill to help job seekers plug into Georgia’s surging EV industry

Free program to train in EV charging maintenance.

A new workforce training program aims to help hundreds of job seekers begin a career in one of Georgia’s fastest-growing industries: electric vehicles.

Goodwi l of North Georgia and professional services firm

centure are partnering to train people in EV charger maintenance. The four-week training course wi l culminate in the cohort being placed at jobs wi h employers committed to paying living-wage salaries to graduates.

Georgia’s economic engine has switched from gasoline to electric in recent years, with the Peach State landing multibillion-dollar EV factories, dozens of part suppliers and battery makers. Jenny Taylor, vice president of career services at Goodwill of North Georgia, said the emerging industry needs specialized workers to repair and install chargers, especially with the federal government pumping billions of dollars into EV initiatives and infrastructure.

“Wehavethisma siveinflux of infrastructure dollars and this huge transition to not focus on fossil fuels,” she said. “But we don’t have a workrce that’s trained for that.” The initiative is called the Goodwill Clean Tech Infrastructure Accelerator, and the nonprofit’s career center in Dekalb County is among the program’s four launch locations this year. The Atlanta area center and one in Detroit

l focus on EV charger ma ntenance. Locat ons in Houston and Nashville wi l train workers on electric heat pumps and solar panel maintenance, respectively.

While known for its franchise of thrift stores, Goodwi l is among the country’s largest providers in free career assistance. More than 24,000 workers were trained or placed at jobs last year across Goodwi l of North Georgia’s 14 career centers. Taylor said job assistance is available for anyone regardless of their education, literacy, housing status or criminal history.

“The only qualification to get services from Goodwill is motivation to work,” Taylor said. “If you don’t want a job, there’s nothing we can do to compel you.”

The first clean tech cohort in Dekalb starts Jan. 29, but Taylor said there already has been strong interest among job applicants. The first class can hold 30 trainees, and Goodwill of North Georgia has funding for an additional 200 students, wi h subsequent classes scheduled to begin March 4 and April 8. Funding for the EV charging class was made possible through a $2 million federal grant facilitated by the Atlanta Regional Commission.

Taylor said workers don’t need to be electricians to fix most EV charger malfunctions, since the majority of issues are software related. The program wi l train workers in soft skills, such as reliability and customer service, along with digital literacy, electrical safety and how to fix chargers across multiple brands.

“The upward mobility that work like this provides our community is outstanding,” said Andrew Bai ey, chief ma -

t ng officer for At anta-based Envirospark, wh ch wi l instal the chargers. “With Georgia and Atlanta being a hub for clean tech, that’s all the more reason why this is important.”

Workers will make $15 an hour during training, which Taylor said is offered to help reduce the barrier to entry for potent al applicants. Program aduates will be placed in a job that starts at $20 an hour, h the option to get further training and an increased salary after a year on the job.

Goodwill wants to expand the program to 20 cities over the next seven years, wi h the goal of training thousands of job seekers for clean tech careers.

BEN GRAY FOR THE AJC Goodwill of North Georgia is offering a free four-week course in EV charger maintenance, which will culminate with workers being placed in jobs with companies committed to pay living-wage salaries.