Office History

Governor Sonny Perdue created the Governor’s Office of Workforce Development (GOWD) to link education with workforce and align efforts with economic development and ensure competitive advantage. Through initiatives like Work Ready, Georgia is creating the formula for successful partnership among education, workers and industry to build a smarter, better-skilled workforce that makes it easier to transform companies into global competitors, while empowering individuals to achieve their career goals and ambitions.

Governor Perdue and GOWD launched Worked Ready in August 2006 to improve job training and marketability of Georgia’s workforce and drive future economic growth. It is the only one of its kind to be conducted through a partnership between a state government and state chamber of commerce, ensuring that companies can more reliably match the right people with the right job.

To date, more than 8,000 Georgians have earned Work Ready Certificates, more than 325 Georgia jobs have been profiled and 73 counties have made a commitment to becoming Georgia Certified Work Ready Communities.

GOWD works closely with the State Workforce Investment Board to advise Governor Perdue on workforce development policy and implement initiatives designed to strengthen the state’s workforce development enterprise.