STATESBORO — Goodwill of the Coastal Empire held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday for its new community Job Connection career center and retail location in Statesboro.
The Job Connection career center is next to the store in the shopping plaza at 812 Hwy. 80.
Job Connection offers a number of free resources and services to employers and job seekers, including applicant screening to match qualified applicants to employer databases for interview.
Goodwill also can provide office space for interviewing, training and job fairs.
“We talk to employers and match their needs to our services,” said Brenda Pollen, interim vice president of Mission Services for Goodwill. “Our role is to tailor our programs to fit employers’ needs.”
Goodwill job centers in the Coastal Empire trained and placed more than 1,400 workers in 2012.
In addition to connecting people with jobs, the Statesboro Job Connection will also be part of Goodwill’s Buena Vida Initiative, an initiative created to expand employment services, family strengthening and financial education to the growing Hispanic/Latino population in Georgia.
The Buena Vida initiative offers adult education and GED classes in Spanish and English in addition to (ESL) classes, ESL and SSL (English and Spanish as a second Language), and Work Literacy classes.
“We know education is the key to lifting people out of poverty,” Pollen said. “The goal is to help them see their world in a different way and see what they can become. Goodwill can help them meet their needs and goals.”
For more information, go to www.goodwillsavannah.org.