Atlanta Emerging Markets, Inc. (AEMI), in partnership with Invest Atlanta, recently closed a $10 million deal to support the construction of Goodwill of North Georgia’s new 12,000-square-foot Center for Workforce Innovation, a job training and career services facility, located at 2160 Metropolitan Parkway.

The Center for Workforce Innovation will provide job training and career support to 8,300 people facing barriers to employment annually by providing graduates with the necessary certifications to attain entry-level jobs and services like free computer access, job fairs, and résumé writing workshops.

This is Goodwill’s first job training facility in the city of Atlanta. The space will also feature a 22,000-square-foot retail store, providing both accessible job training and affordable retail in Southwest Atlanta, a priority area for increasing economic mobility.

Invest Atlanta has also supported this important project with $500,000 from the Economic Opportunity Fund (EOF) earlier this year and $150,000 from the Metropolitan Parkway Tax Allocation District (TAD) fund in 2019 to help more Atlantans prepare for and find good and promising jobs. These additional economic incentives have helped to create 50 new jobs in Southwest Atlanta.

Established in 1925, Goodwill of North Georgia (GNG) currently operates 65 thrift stores and 13 career centers across 45 North Georgia counties and has placed over 100,000 people facing barriers to employment in jobs over the past five years.