ATLANTA – State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said today that the Bartow County Employer Committee has been named runner-up in the Georgia Employer Committee’s Employer Committee of the Year Award for 2012. The Middle Georgia Employer Committee won the first-place award. Commissioner Butler presented the awards on behalf of the state committee at its annual conference held this week in Savannah.

“Sometimes it’s difficult to select a clear winner in awards competition and this is one of those occasions,” said Commissioner Butler. “The Bartow County Employer Committee has had such a successful year that the judges thought it worthy to make an exception and present a runner-up award for Employer Committee of the Year. I wholeheartedly agree and congratulate the Bartow committee for its excellent work.”

The employer committee was involved in a variety of activities, including a regional forum on building a competitive workforce, awarding need-based scholarships, providing funding for school supplies for at-risk youth, and participating in an educational community collaboration and various chamber of commerce partnerships.

The employer committee and the Cobb/Cherokee Employer Committee co-sponsored a forum entitled, “Georgia’s Workforce, Today and Tomorrow: Planning for the Future.” The forum featured a panel of governmental and educational officials discussing ways to bridge the skills gap in today’s workforce by preparing job seekers through education and training for the jobs of tomorrow. And, employer committee members met with the local board of education and chamber of commerce to identify business and industry needs in preparing the local workforce for the jobs of today, as well as the jobs of the future.

The Bartow County Employer Committee was one of six area committees to receive awards at the state conference. Employer committees are groups of business representatives who maintain a working relationship between employers and the GDOL. The committees provide input and guidance to the commissioner and department in the development of policy and legislation, as it impacts employers and employees. The committees throughout the state work closely with their local GDOL career centers to promote the department’s services among employers and to identify and recommend ways to meet local and state employment-related needs.

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