Lawmakers Huddle: Georgia’s new ‘Top State for Talent’ law links classrooms to careers

Caption

A carpet-laying crew installs new carpet on the floor of the Georgia Chamber during August 2025 renovations to the state Capitol.

Credit: Donna Lowry / GPB News

TRANSCRIPT

Pamela Kirkland: Welcome to Lawmaker Huddle; I'm Pamela Kirkland, host of Morning Edition at Georgia Public Broadcasting. Each week we're joined by Donna Lowry, host of GPB's Lawmakers for Lawmaker Huddle, where we cover the highlights from under the Gold Dome.

Donna Lowry: Georgia now has a "Top State for Talent" initiative. How will it shape Georgia's workforce? And what does it mean for families, students and businesses across the state? Joining me to talk about all of that is Rep. Matthew Gambill of Cartersville. He is the vice chairman of the House Economic Development and Tourism Committee and one of the governor's floor leaders. Welcome to Lawmakers' Huddle.

Rep. Matthew Gambill: Well, thank you, Donna. It's good to be with you today.

Donna Lowry: Well, let's get started Rep. Gambill. You helped usher through an initiative that spotlights Georgia as the top state for talent. In everyday terms, what does that mean for families and for people out there looking for jobs?

Rep. Matthew Gambill: Well, the short version is this, and I can explain the detail. Basically, we are trying to do a better job of aligning our workforce development strategies in the state. So, that involves the K-12 education partners, whether it's a local school system and the Career Technical and Agricultural Education programs that they offer. It involves our career academies that we now have across the state, but it also involves our university system partners, both the Technical College System of Georgia and the University System of Georgia. And what we're trying to do is to make sure that each player in that space is talking, working together, making sure that students all throughout the process are fully advised and aware of the career opportunities that exist in our state. And ultimately, that they are pursuing one of these high-demand careers that the business and industry community here in Georgia has made it abundantly clear that they need. And, there's many, many opportunities for our students to engage with these high-demand careers, which are high-skill, high-wage jobs, and provide great salary benefits and the types of things that we want our students here in Georgia to have the opportunity to take advantage of.

Donna Lowry: Give us a few examples of those jobs and explain why they are so critical to our state's future.

Rep. Matthew Gambill: So, with the first bill that we did as a part of the governor's Top State for Talent effort, that was House Bill 982. And that created one single list of the high-demand careers that are available in Georgia. That list is not created in a vacuum, but it is an inclusive project that is a process that includes business and industry leaders, education partners, and input from a lot of different data points to determine what the high-demand careers are. Because we know that those change frequently, and our state needs to stay in front of those changes, whether they're being caused by economic changes or by technology, whatever it may be. So, the first bill created the single list of high-demand careers and the State Workforce Investment Board has been charged with maintaining the list. So, they are the convener of the list, if you will. And then, you know, those high-demand careers would include things like welding, construction, advanced manufacturing, science, and health care careers. Those are just a few examples of some of the careers that are in very high demand in our state. But if you want to go onto topstatefortalent.georgia.gov, you can access this information, and you can find out what the complete list includes and start having conversations with your students or those that you may be related to or just friends with, about some of the opportunities that exist.

Donna Lowry: And these opportunities, they're not concentrated in metro Atlanta, right? Families in rural areas will feel this, too.

Rep. Matthew Gambill: That is correct and we even created the opportunity with that legislation, Top State for Talent legislation, to allow for a regional career that might be high demand because certainly in different parts of the state there may be careers that are in more demand than in other parts of the state. And so that that is also taken into account with the changes that we made in state law.

Donna Lowry: Let's talk about the changes that parents and students may start noticing in local schools, even as early as middle school, right?

Rep. Matthew Gambill: That's correct, yes. In the subsequent legislation we passed this year, House Bill 192 — again, it's all a  part of the governor's Top State for Talent initiative — we have incentivized schools, K-12 schools, aligning their Career, Technical, Agricultural and Education (CTAE) programs to the high-demand list. So, it doesn't force them to offer certain programs, but it does create an incentive that if they change their program offerings align with the high-demand career list, they're eligible to receive additional funding from the state that will pay for the cost of the program, whether it be the curriculum or the equipment used to teach the course. And again, it doesn't — it doesn't use a stick, it dangles a carrot to encourage our schools to really look at what they're offering to students and make sure that those are leading — the offerings are leading to the high-demand, high-skill, high-wage jobs that we have available in the state that employers tell us that they really want us to focus on and that they need desperately.

Donna Lowry: And now, I know a big piece of this is the Georgia MATCH program. So walk us through how it works and how it connects students with colleges and the career opportunities.

Rep. Matthew Gambill: The Georgia MATCH program is another initiative that the governor started. We're now in our third year of the program. It's an incredible opportunity, and it's really the nation's largest direct admissions initiative. And so, the Georgia MATCH program now sends a letter to every high school senior advising them of the University System of Georgia schools and the Technical College System of Georgia schools that they're eligible to go to. It connects them to information about scholarship opportunities, whether that's through the HOPE Scholarship or the HOPE Career Grant, or other financial incentives that are available for post-secondary education. And it connects them with representatives at each of those schools. So take, for example, if you're a student in Cartersville, where I represent, you're gonna now receive this letter in your senior year notifying you that you're eligible for admission at Chattahoochee Technical College, Kennesaw State University, Georgia Highlands College, just as an example, and then giving you information about how to connect to individuals at those schools who stand ready, willing and able to help you plug get enrolled and pursue post-secondary education.

Donna Lowry: It will certainly ease some of that stress that families and students face when they're trying to figure out what's next after high school; they have at least some kind of map of what to do next.

Rep. Matthew Gambill: That is correct. And we realized that — unfortunately, but it was happening — we had many high school seniors that would come to that time of the year when they were preparing to graduate, and they just really didn't know "Hey, what opportunities do I have next?"

Donna Lowry: We can say that employers are helping to shape what's being taught in schools. Is that the idea?

Rep. Matthew Gambill: That is correct. Yes.

Donna Lowry: Let's look down maybe five years down the road or so. How do you see this initiative changing the job outlook in Georgia?

Rep. Matthew Gambill: Well, you know, for 12 years now, we've been the No. 1 state to do business in, and that's been great. And we've done that with good leadership of our governor and previous governors. We've done with good leadership from our legislature, helping to be pro-business-minded, helping to provide incentives to recruit companies here, providing a low tax environment and an environment that's not as regulated as other states have. But this workforce component is also an essential part of an economic development strategy. So, making sure that we are doing more than just providing that culture and that climate, but that we're also preparing the workforce that these employers need. And so, I think if anything, it will continue to make sure that Georgia stays at the forefront of other states in our country, that we'll be leading when it comes to workforce development, that our students and parents are aware of the opportunities, that they're plugging into those, and that they're getting those skills they need to be successful in life. And you know, the other great thing about the type of programs that we're talking about is: For many students, even if they don't end up pursuing the specific jobs that we are talking about, they are better off for having earned or developed this skill set because a lot of the things that they're being taught in Career, Technical, Agriculture and Education are life skills — or what they call soft skills, I call them employability skills — but they can transition to any work environment where we expect them to show up to work on time, work together as a team, look people in the eye, shake people's hands, you know, just some essential life skills that they're learning through these classes. So that is a big part of what we're working on and why this is so important.

Donna Lowry: So, let's talk about all of these different parts together. There's the third annual Governor's Workforce Summit coming up, October 20 and 21, at the Georgia World Congress Center. Tell us what that's all about.

Rep. Matthew Gambill: Yeah, so for two days, we'll be convening business leaders and education leaders from across the state for updates from the governor, from the technical college system, from the Department of Education, and the University System of Georgia about the status of the Top State for Talent initiative. And then providing our business leaders the opportunity to talk about different things that they're seeing in their businesses. Trends, things that are changing from a workforce standpoint, and then give us an opportunity to collaborate with all of those leaders and come up with best practices and ideas that will ultimately be used to guide the Top State for Talent initiative. But also, I look forward to a discussion about the upcoming legislative session and the additional legislation that we may have as a result of this effort. That would be kind of a third iteration of the Top State for Talent Act where we look for some things to tweak or maybe add to what we've already done. So those are a couple of the things that will be discussed at the governor's workforce summit. I will be there and look forward to emceeing the second day and being a part of the legislation that we've passed.

Donna Lowry: Well, I look forward to also talking about this more on TV on Lawmakers. Thank you so much for coming on Lawmaker's Huddle.

Rep. Matthew Gambill: Well, thank you for having me. I always enjoy getting to talk about this subject because it changed my life: When I was a student at Cartersville High School and going through graphic arts at the time, I just remember how big of an impact it made for me. And that's what we're still doing to this day with these programs, and I'm excited about it.

Donna Lowry: Just having a goal. You had a goal early, it sounds like.

Rep. Matthew Gambill: That's right.

Donna Lowry: What age were you? What grade level?

Rep. Matthew Gambill: So, I was in high school, and I took three graphic arts courses. They would call that a pathway now, but I always told people that had I not gone on to college, I could have gotten hired and worked in advertising or at my local paper at the time. And I still, those skills I learned, I still use those in the job that I'm in to this day. So those are lifelong skills that you have as a result of coming through these programs.

Donna Lowry: Yeah, I appreciate you talking with me all about this, Rep. Gambill. Thank you so much. For GPB News. I'm Donna Lowry.

Pamela Kirkland: You can watch Donna hosting GPB's Lawmakers nightly at 7 p.m. while the Legislature's in session or online at gab.org/lawmakers.