First Step Staffing combines its nonprofit mission with for-profit expertise to offer meaningful staffing solutions for local business partners. It is the largest nonprofit employment agency in the country that provides comprehensive skills training and job placement services to its clients – most of whom face significant employment barriers. 

At First Step, people who are experiencing homelessness, who have a criminal history or who have physical or mental disabilities are given a chance at meaningful employment and opportunities for economic stability.

To support the organization’s continued growth and impact, Atlanta Emerging Markets Inc. (AEMI) closed on an $11 million New Markets Tax Credits transaction. This funding will help increase First Step’s employee retention services to support 700 clients and grow its temporary job placement program to support 3,000 clients, an increase of 900 clients annually. 

The AEMI funding will also support the expansion of Second Step, a job training and certification program that focuses on high-demand, high-wage industries, including warehouse logistics and distribution, construction, IT support and commercial truck driving. 

Second Step and employee retention services programs are currently being piloted in Atlanta. They will be scaled in eight markets across the U.S. – expanding First Step’s vision to create opportunity and dignity through employment.

Created by Invest Atlanta, AEMI is a certified community development entity that fosters economic development, job creation and neighborhood revitalization in Atlanta’s underinvested communities. It specializes in gap financing for businesses and developers with large-scale projects, as well as social impact enterprises and nonprofits seeking low-cost capital.