- Home
- Get Involved
- Initiatives
- American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)
- Business Development & Workforce Support
Business Development & Workforce Support
Relevant History
| March 1, 2022 | M&C approved a budget allocating $4 million of ARPA funding for Business Development and Workforce Support | M&C Minutes (pg 2) |
| May 4, 2023 | Athens Area Chamber of Commerce (AACC) presented a proposal to partner on a collaborative community workforce strategic planning process at a Mayor and Commission retreat | M&C Retreat Agenda M&C Retreat Minutes |
| June 6, 2023 | M&C voted to authorize transfer of up to $27,000 in funds to AACC to be used to hire a third party to conduct a Workforce Development Strategic Plan. M&C also voted to amend the language from the original Commission Defined Option to designate a task force to serve as an advisory group for this bucket. | M&C Agenda (pg 442) M&C Minutes (pg 16) |
| Summer - Fall 2023 | AACC contracted with Hodge Consulting to facilitate development of the Workforce Strategic Plan | |
| April - June, 2024 | ACC Business Development & Workforce Support Task Force Advisory Committee meetings | Agendas and minutes |
| June 5, 2024 | M&C voted to approve the AACC Athens Achieves! Workforce Development Strategic Plan, along with an allocation of $1.9 million in funding to implement the plan. The full plan is included in the agenda item at right | M&C Agenda (pg 693) M&C Minutes (pg 20) |
| August 6, 2024 | The Business Development and Workforce Support Advisory Committee's funding recommendations were presented to M&C. M&C voted to accept the plan with final fund allocation to be voted on at the September 3, 2024 meeting, following receipt and review of agency proposals. | M&C Agenda (pg 331) M&C Minutes (pg 15) |
| September 3, 2024 | M&C elected to hold the vote on funding until September 17, allowing additional time for organizations to provide outstanding program specifications such as budget narrative, performance measures, etc. | M&C Agenda (pg 508) M&C Minutes (pg 10) |
| September 17, 2024 | M&C voted to approve all organizations recommended by the Business Development and Workforce Support Advisory Committee except One Breath CNA. Funded organizations include Economic Justice Coalition, Quality Care for Children, Georgia Cooperative Development Center, Georgia Center for Employee Ownership, and the Joint Development Authority. | M&C Agenda (pg 1) M&C Minutes (pg 1) |
| July 7, 2025 | Economic Justice Coalition (EJC) submitted a letter requesting to terminate their ARPA contract | |
| September 2, 2025 | M&C voted to reallocate $140,000 of the $150,000 EJC contract to the Center for Racial Justice and Black Futures | M&C Agenda (pg 497) M&C Minutes (pg 12) |
| December 2, 2025 | M&C voted to allocate the remaining $10,000 in funds from the terminated EJC contract to the Habitat for Humanity Micah's Creek project. | M&C Agenda (pg 509) |
Funded Contracts
$2.3 million was awarded to the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce for their Athens Achieves initiative. This funding is allowing the Chamber to expand in-house workforce development efforts, including creation of a job portal and apprenticeship program, as well as serving as an umbrella organization to several partner organizations providing related programming. More information about the contract, including organizations involved and the current status of contract performance metrics, can be accessed on the Chamber of Commerce page within the ARPA data hub.
The Georgia Center for Employee Ownership received $150,000 for the purpose of providing education and training to local businesses considering an employee ownership model. More information about the status of this contract can be found on the GA CEO page of the ARPA data hub.
The Georgia Cooperative Development Center (GCDC) received $150,000 for the purpose of providing training, technical assistance, and access to capital for participants interested in starting a cooperatively owned business. More information can be found on the GCDC page within the ARPA data hub.
The Joint Development Authority of ACCGov and Winterville received $100,000 to provide grants to small businesses within Athens-Clarke County. All funding was expended as of October 2025. In total, 38 applications were received, with 18 grants awarded. 11 grants were awarded to woman-owned businesses, and 5 to minority-owned businesses. This information is also available within the JDA page on the ARPA data hub.
Quality Care for Children received $300,000 in funding for the purpose of providing business coaching to childcare providers within Athens-Clarke County. Program outcomes to date are presented within the QCC page of the ARPA data hub.
Economic Justice Coalition received $150,000 for the purpose of developing curriculum and a train-the-trainer program to provide worker labor rights trainings to local workers and non-profits. EJC voluntarily requested contract termination in July 2025 prior to spending any of the ARPA funds due to delays in working with subcontractors and concern over being able to meet pending expectations within the grant timeline. Mayor and Commission voted on September 2, 2025 to reallocate $140,000 to the lease for the Center for Racial Justice and Black Futures and on December 2, 2025 to reallocate $10,000 to the Habitat for Humanity Micah's Creek Project.
Task Force Description
On June 6, 2023 Mayor and Commission amended the language from the original ARPA Commission Defined Option to read as follows:
The initial advisory group for Business Development and Workforce Support is to be a Task Force of local stakeholders as indicated below. They will be charged with identifying priority actions needed for connecting Athens residents with high wage employment, small business development, and worker empowerment, regardless of funding source. Special consideration should be given to addressing the needs of workers, including, for example, the following:
- the need for childcare support for low income families;
- the development of co-operative and worker-owned businesses, including secondary cooperatives (a group of micro-business LLC’s);
- high quality labor standards (such as work at the living wage as identified by the MIT calculator, paid leave options, paid health care and other benefits, and just cause termination agreements);
- nonprofit programming designed to assist workers in labor organizing for improved working conditions and/or higher wages;
- identifying links to high wage, high growth industries, and building the local workforce pipeline for positions that public and private employers are struggling to fill.
Charge: Meet approximately twice monthly from August-December 2023 and use a research basis to define optimal and achievable outcomes, with recommendations regarding capital expenditures or programming to come to the Mayor and Commission in January 2024 utilizing the $4MM of American Rescue Plan Act funds allocated for this area, along with potential future activities.
Business Development and Workforce Support Task Force Members
- Commissioner Carol Myers, Co-Chair
- Commissioner Tiffany Taylor, Co-Chair
- Ilka McConnell, ACCGov Department of Economic Development
- Michelle Pearson, Minority Business and Nonprofit Association
- Shane Blackwell, Northeast Georgia Black Chamber of Commerce
- Dodd Ferrelle, Joint Development Authority of Athens-Clarke County and Winterville
- David Bradley, Athens Area Chamber of Commerce
- Broderick Flanagan, Economic Justice Coalition
- Al McCall, Athens Technical College
- Sally Kimmel-Shepherd, Envision Athens
- Tim Johnson, Family Connection-Communities in Schools of Athens
- Matthew Epperson, Work-Owned Cooperative Advocate
- Wesley Mellina, Athens Community Career Academy