The newly formed Rural Healthcare Cluster, made up of employers in Washington, Clarke, and Choctaw counties, kicked off the Rural Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) program, which was established to make training accessible to hard-to-reach populations, on March 6th. SAWDC provided project coordination services and, in partnership with the Alabama Career Center - Jackson, provided all pre-screening services for twenty-eight candidates for the employer-driven program. SAWDC additionally coordinated interviews of these candidates with the three employers committed to hiring upon successful completion.  Employers selected fifteen candidates for the eight week training program, which is being held on-site at the Washington County Hospital and Nursing Home in Chatom, Alabama.  It is expected that twelve of the fifteen candidates will successfully complete the program and earn their certification.    

 

 

Alabama Power Company and the team of PowerSouth Energy, Southern Pine, and Clarke-Washington EMC have provided grants to Coastal Gateway Regional Economic Development Alliance (CGEDA) to create a new website. CGEDA is contracting with Red Sage Communications, which specializes in economic development websites, to complete its first professionally developed website. 

 

CGEDA Executive Director John Johnson reported, "We are grateful to these partners for supporting this new website. Research indicates that over 90 percent of industrial prospects screen and eliminate/select communities electronically before ever contacting economic developers, mayors, or county commissioners. With this new website, we will be able to more effectively compete in the initial stages." 

 

The new website will be modeled on the content of the North Alabama Industrial Development Association website, naiad.com. NAIDA has represented 13 counties across north Alabama for decades and is the agency most similar to CGEDA in Alabama. 

 

Selected data on sites and buildings in the Coastal Gateway region are included on the website and are co-located on statewide sites including the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama. In addition, the new website will also include a featured properties section to allow additional photos and data pages on these properties. Coastal Gateway is developing three additional Advantage Sites across the region in 2014, sites that are certified as "shovel-ready" to industrial prospects. 

 

The new website will also include a section on workforce skills and the training programs in K-12 schools and community colleges in the region. This section is being developed in concert with SAWDC and will emphasize the strong partnership between SAWDC and Coastal Gateway. The new website is projected to be completed in four months.