Above: Eric Jackson, a CWDS graduate, works at Best Buy's regional
distribution center in Dublin.

Undeniably, 2001 was a tough year. A terror-ridden September was followed by a war in Afghanistan and then an officially declared economic recession. Statewide job cuts for September through November were 35 percent ahead of the same period in 2000, and some economists are predicting that, after all of the numbers are in, the total job loss for Georgia will top 80,000.

That's the bad news.

The good news is that, despite the grim statistics, thousands of new entrants into the workforce, as well as seasoned workers seeking to increase their skills, are seizing a golden opportunity offered by Georgia's Department of Technical and Adult Education (DTAE). These workers are choosing from a smorgasbord of training programs for businesses and industries provided by Georgia's technical colleges.

The idea behind the certified specialist programs is to give potential or actual employees specific skills to meet the needs of the workplace. Participants get required hours of classroom and on-the-job instruction to earn each certificate.

Since each certification program is specially designed for that industry cluster, the industries have continual input into the process. Instructors are chosen for their practical experience, teaching skills and credibility.

The latest program to join the ranks of certification programs — which include Certified Manufacturing Specialist, Certified Customer Service Specialist and Certified Construction Worker — is the Certified Warehousing and Distribution Specialist (CWDS) program.

Even in its pilot stage, the CWDS program has been instrumental in helping Georgia attract major distribution centers to the state.

Gov. Roy Barnes was delighted to announce Best Buy's decision to locate its 748,000-sq.-ft. regional distribution center just outside Dublin in central Georgia. Bringing 305 new jobs to the area, the facility opened in August 2000 and serves approximately 60 stores in Alabama, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina and Tennessee.

"This new distribution center, along with some 45 other large retail-related warehouse distribution facilities located here in Georgia, is more evidence that we are quickly becoming the logistics center of this region," Gov. Barnes said, noting that in the previous 18 months, Georgia had attracted more than 100 other distribution facilities to the state.

Retailers such as Wal-Mart, Kmart and Target also have major presences in Georgia. According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, more than 200,000 people now work in wholesale distribution in the state, with a total payroll of $10 billion.

Best Buy, a top specialty retailer of consumer electronics, personal computers, entertainment, software and appliances in the United States, was indeed a jewel in Georgia's growing distribution and warehousing crown. In fiscal year 2001, Best Buy had sales of $15.2 billion, an increase of 21 percent over the previous year, with nearly 2,000 retail stores scattered across North America.

Best Buy chose the Dublin site from over 200 other communities in six states. And DTAE's Certified Warehousing and Distribution Specialist program, Georgia Quick Start and Heart of Georgia Technical College were important factors in that decision.

Roman Roman, Jr., the general manager of Best Buy's Dublin facility, has been on the scene from the very beginning. Today, this ultra-modern distribution center is encompassed by a sea of trucks sporting the signature yellow-tag logos and parked at 215 loading areas outside the building.

The facility, in what was once farmland west of Dublin, has a value of about $40 million. Inside, huge quantities of products are stored for shipment, and workers have radio-frequency hand-scanners to obtain an updated second-by-second inventory of what's on-hand.

"You could say we were the pilot for Georgia's Certified Warehousing and Distribution Specialist program," Roman says, adding that the genesis of the new warehousing and distribution certificate for Best Buy came at a monthly staff meeting, brought up by workers themselves.

"I contacted Quick Start and asked them to come in and show us the (CWDS) program," he recalls. "They discussed the warehouse certification program and showed us some training modules. When they asked us if we wanted to pilot the program with Heart of Georgia Technical College, I said, 'Absolutely yes."'

Roman says he already is assured that Best Buy employees will benefit, as will the company, by having a trained pool of workers. "The Certified Warehousing and Distribution Specialist program can be offered not only in our company, but also for the entire community," he says.

The general manager says he can't say enough good things about Quick Start and the Heart of Georgia Technical College or the training programs being offered.

"Here in Georgia, I can pick up the phone and chat with Department of Labor people. Everybody at the Heart of Georgia College I know by name, as I do at Quick Start," Roman says. "A lot of folks don't realize the amount of resources these people bring to Georgia."

The state of Wyoming was so impressed with DTAE's Certified Workforce Development Programs that it is now using them in all seven of the state's community colleges. The programs — administered by the Wyoming Business Council and the Wyoming Community College Commission — were licensed to Wyoming by the state of Georgia.

"We've gotten an extremely positive reaction," says Peter Reis, chief support services officer of the Wyoming Business Council. "We came down to Georgia last spring, and by October the first class of certified instructors had graduated."

"Since then, we've had around 300 people who have finished the programs, and we've had nothing but positive feedback from the companies."

One Wyoming retailer, Lowe's, has been so pleased with its 60 employees who have finished the Certified Warehousing and Distribution Program that it is gearing up to send 300 more employees though the certificate course. Other large companies in Wyoming that have enthusiastically participated in the training programs include Sierra Trading and Quark, Reis says, adding that there are multiple smaller companies lining up for Certified Manufacturing Specialist programs. DTAE's four Certified Workforce Development Programs are: Certified Manufacturing Specialist (CMS), Certified Customer Service Specialist (CCSS), Certified Warehousing and Distribution Specialist (CWDS) and the Certified Construction Worker (CCW). These training programs, each designed by professionals in their fields, include classroom and on-the-job learning and are available free to qualified Georgia businesses.