Athens Education & Workforce Development with David Bradley

This transcript has been lightly edited for readability and to correct obvious transcription errors while preserving the meaning of the original conversation.

Episode 117 — Athens Education & Workforce Development with David Bradley
Clean Speaker-Labeled Transcript
Guest: David Bradley
Automated QA: Passed

00:00.842 Brandon Burton
This is the Chamber Chat Podcast, the show dedicated to chamber professionals to spark ideas and to get actionable tips and strategies to better serve your members and community.
00:16.63 Brandon Burton
Drive. He's my dad, Brandon Burton. Welcome to the Chamber Chat Podcast. I'm your host, Brandon Burton, and you're joining us here today for episode 117 of Chamber Chat Podcast, where it's my goal to introduce you to people and ideas to help you better serve your chamber members and your community. Our guest for this episode is David Bradley. David is honored to serve as the president. Of the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce in Georgia. He and his wife Dawn moved to the Athens area in August 2018, becoming a reformed North Carolinian. He frequently says that he used to think there was nothing finer than to be a North Caroliner, but then he got to Athens. David and Dawn have three daughters, identical twin, 27-year-old daughters that both live in Atlanta. And their youngest daughter, Kate, just graduated from Appalachian State University. She intends to get married in July and is currently in Athens working for Byoplanet. After graduating from Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina, David moved to Mount Airy, North Carolina to run a rope manufacturing plant for 10 years. Upon the birth of his youngest Kate, he opted to make his life more simple and easy, in which he failed miserably by taking over his head. The Chamber in Mount Airy. In 2005, the family moved to Statesville, North Carolina for a similar post. He is the past president of the Carolinas Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives, was recognized as North Carolina Chamber Executive of the Year in 2004, and currently serves on the board of directors of the Georgia Association Chamber of Commerce Executives Envision Athens. The Athens Area Community Foundation and the Athens Community Career Academy. I'm excited to have David with me today on the podcast where we're going to be discussing how they're doing things in Athen around education and workforce development. And we will get into this discussion right after this quick break. Are you looking for a year-round affordable and timely shop local campaign for your chamber or CVB? Look no further. Build a custom eat shop.
02:37.23 Brandon Burton
Play mobile app with App My Community by visiting https://appmycommunity.com/chamberchat. App My Community mobile apps are not just simple membership directory listings, they provide many more capabilities to engage with your community. Provide your residents with a robust events calendar, partner with a local fair, festival, or farmers market to provide a schedule, map, and other resources to promote the event. Run a small business Saturday campaign any time of the year using built-in scavenger hunts. Allow your membership to communicate directly to their customers via push notifications. Your App My Community mobile app will be a unique member benefit, allow you to generate non-dues revenue with sponsorship opportunities, and best of all, provide a valuable resource to your community. Please visit https://appmycommunity.com/chamberchat now and To receive ten percent off your first year of an app, my community mobile app. All right, David, we are back. Thank you for joining me today on Chamber Chat Podcast. If you will say hello to all the chamber champions that are out there listening and share something interesting about yourselves we can
03:52.632 David Bradley
Better. Brandon, I'm so I'm so privileged to be on with you this morning. it's it it's it's a great pleasure. I don't know if I can share much wisdom, but I can sure talk a little bit. we we had the opportunity as as we noted earlier, we had the opportunity to come to Athens in 2018. and I I don't know how many of of folks who are on the podcast. Know have have been to Athens, Georgia, but it truly is one of the coolest places on the planet Earth. incredible music, incredible food. you know, a great vibe in the community. and with the University of Georgia about two blocks away, we have thirty-five thousand students. so there's always some cool energy going on. I when my wife and I moved here, We have the opportunity to be, you know, right next to our twin daughters and our and family is is easily the is easily one of the most important things in my life. we anytime that we can get together with our family, we are a hundred percent in I love every bit of and so we've been super blessed to be in Athens. Again, if if Athens is one of the coolest places on the planet, it deserves to have one of the cooler chambers on the planet. We're not quite there yet, but we're trying.
05:17.952 Brandon Burton
All right. Well it sounds like you got the priorities right. So that is that's awesome.
05:23.75 David Bradley
Yeah, we're blessed. You know, with life is so short. w you've gotta love what you you gotta love what you do and you gotta love the people you're with. And I could not be any more pleased to to be a father first and husband, and and a chamber guy. That's right. Probably in that order.
05:41.8 Brandon Burton
And yeah, we could dive down a whole nother rabbit hole about being a college town and and the impact that has on your community. And and maybe you'll touch on it a little bit in our discussion today. but I know there's some unique qualities to a community when you're a college town. So we'll hopefully get a a little flavor of that as as we go on with our discussion. But share with us a little bit more about the the Athens area chamber, size, you know, staff, budget, things like that, just to give us a little more perspective.
06:13.339 David Bradley
great. so we We're our our chamber our chamber is about we have about eight hundred members in the cham. we know that we gotta be able to be in the neighbor in three or four years we ought to be around twelve hundred to thirteen hundred members. We just we we need to we need to expand our our penetration in the marketplace. And quite quite frankly, in two thousand nineteen we were we were hitting the mark well. We we had a net gain in membership without a membership drive. In two thousand nineteen we grew by sixteen percent. and we were on more we were up on pace to out to at least hit that mark in twenty twenty. and then obviously COVID hit and things changed a little bit. But so we you know we're around eight hundred members, and again by twenty twenty-four, we expect to re at the twelve hundred to thirteen hundred member mark. We have currently we have four. For all practical purposes, full-time folks, and we have two part-time folks. and we expect that in two years we'll grow by another, you know, probably one and a half full-time people. We have a budget of around seven hundred and eighty thousand dollars. again, if we look to twenty twenty-four, we we expect it we'll probably be in the one point two or one point three million dollar budget range. so I mean we've got a we have a strategic plan on how to grow and and how to get there. and a lot of it just has to do with I mean our our focus for the last couple of years has not been to sell membership, it's just to earn membership. so we've if if we had in 2019, if we we brought in close to 200 new members and I dare say that maybe 20 of them were directly asked, would you join the chamber?
08:14.686 David Bradley
The other 180 said, who do I write a to? So it's been it really is it's it's been a fabulous experience thus far.
08:18.765 Brandon Burton
Nice.
08:23.308 Brandon Burton
Yeah, that that just demonstrates that you're providing the value for them to want to jump in the boat and and be a part of that mission and and the direction that you're going.
08:32.767 David Bradley
Yeah, and then and then and if if if if they buy it before we offer it, then chances are we're more likely to retain them for an extended period of time.
08:44.904 Brandon Burton
Absolutely. Yeah.
08:47.16 David Bradley
So it's been it's it's been again, there are people all over the world that love Athens, Georgia and and but they don't love it as much as the people that live here. we just have to be we have to be a voice of business and the voice of business in Athens has been quiet for the last several years and so it's it's people are are jacked up that that the Athens Chamber is is standing up to be the voice of business.
09:13.208 Brandon Burton
Yeah, that is great. So as we look at our our topic for discussion today around education education and workforce development and how you guys are doing things there in Athens. I know so every year I do a little series of the ACCE Chamber of the Year finalists where I I have you know somebody from each of those chambers, usually about a dozen chambers come on and talk about their areas of work that they you know, put on their application for chamber of the year to be considered as chamber of the year. And I'd say probably 75% of them, they really focus on their, you know, education and workforce development. So I know it's a very important topic in chamber work. And I think every community has some nuances to how they go about their plan and and how they approach this important topic. So I'm curious to hear From your perspective, from your community, what seems to be working? What traction are you getting? Just tell us how you guys are doing things there in Athens.
10:19.182 David Bradley
Well it's it's still a work in process but but we are doggedly pursuing getting we're dogged doggedly pursuing connectivity between the business community and education world daily. I think it's the most important thing that we can do. I believe I mean we're our the the Clarke County School District is not perceived to be one of the best school districts in the state of Georgia by any stretch of imagination. However, we also know that education is a critical component on where businesses choose to live, choose to move, and even more importantly, the quality of the of the employees that come out of the school system. So I believe, and this is the law according to David Bradley. You know, not many people follow that law, but that education is the single most important cornerstone to long-term economic prosperity in the community. I believe if we chose that if we if we as a business community had a a commitment that we would have the best school system, or even in the top 10 school systems in the state of Georgia, economic development, we wouldn't have to worry about economic development. Job growth because it would just in it would engulf us. So I believe it's imperative for the chamber to dive in and be a hollow reed of connectivity between the business community and the education community, such that there is that that we work together progressively to move forward in building both the profile of education, but also to get quality employees through. So Brandon, we've we've tried to focus on, and this is again, this is our programming that is less than two years old. So we we what we found is that the school system is is now wide open to to to engagement and we're probably spending, I mean, probably forty to fifty percent of my time, or maybe forty percent of my time through the course of the week is spent in education related areas.
12:42.926 David Bradley
Try to focus on two different areas. One is how do we get the business community engaged in the current school system? I mean it in in schools currently. And we have a couple different things that we're doing along those lines. And then we'll also talk if about how engagement in those school systems might venture into the workforce development component. previous communities I've been in and when education focus has been you know prevalent in the two chambers I was in prior to coming to Athens. So this is not a this is not a new initiative that we're that we're putting forward. one thing we've committed to the school system is we've got 27 schools in Clarke County, most of them elementary and certainly and you've got middle schools and high schools. We've had virtually no partnerships between the business community and local schools. we are we are putting together right now those partnerships with every with a partnership with every school. one of the things that in in what we've been what we've been able to do is really develop a partnership agreement plan so that a business will know exactly what the school is expecting of that business and what the and the And the school will know exactly what to expect from that from the business. And that's taken a little bit of time, and a lot of credit goes to the Clarke County School District for coming up with that partnership agreement. But the objective has to be: I mean, the perception of our schools is not so good. And unfortunately, if we don't have advocates for the school system, who many of if we don't have advocates for the school system and maybe the protagonists. Chances are pretty good, they're just repeating what they've heard. So we need to get the business community in the school so that we can so they can really see what good is going on. And if something is not, if if if things need to be changed, then the business community is gonna be be a partner to help make that change. So so we'll have by the time fall rolls around, we'll have twenty-seven, or we'll probably have much more than that, but for every school we'll have several business and education partners.
15:06.582 David Bradley
In the fall we are something that I think is was done maybe fifteen years ago was a seeing is believing bus tour. So it's taking maybe several several buses with local business leaders that will register, you know. I think we'd probably easily have a hundred and fifty or so that would that would join in and really plan out a plan to get them in into every into not every school but several schools throughout the district so that they can they can see the value of what's happening and they can they can get engaged. Again, it's it's just about getting people in involved. And lastly, you know with we have I I have been in in the previous communities very much engaged and involved with FranklinCovey's Leader in Me program. which focuses on development of utilization of Stephen Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and helping teachers or creating teachers would create lesson plans ever for every hour of every day that involve the seven habits in their teaching. And it's it's I've seen it change lives. and we're ecstatic to be able to work with the school system to help move slowly some of our schools into this Leader in Me framework of teaching. and you know that's it's I mean again it's it's extraordinary. So that's sort of what we're trying to do as far as getting folks engaged. But we also have to focus on on workforce development. and that's a tough that's that's sometimes a little bit tougher, but it's probably even more important than than getting folks engaged. We have this summer we have we're employing fifteen teachers and externships to spend a week in fifteen different industries, manufacturing plans. the objective is to to get those teachers to to have those teachers understand better the skill sets that are needed.
17:33.144 David Bradley
So that they can, when they go back to their classrooms, they can help us make connections. And so we're paying to we're we're gonna be paying teachers $1,000 a week, $1,000 for that week as a siphon to get deeply engaged in what the what the skill sets are needed in each of those manufacturing plants. And they'll all then all 15 of them will make a presentation to the chamber as well as the school system as to as to what they've learned.
18:00.738 Brandon Burton
So this summer's the first time doing that with the the externship.
18:04.65 David Bradley
It is. We'd actually scheduled it for next for last summer, but yeah, that that that didn't work out. Yeah, and and you know, thanks this is you know, I mean money doesn't grow on trees. We're always fortunate as as all of our colleagues are of of being able to find partners in the community and Georgia Power is is is sponsor of this externship program.
18:10.254 Brandon Burton
Yeah.
18:32.94 David Bradley
We have great hopes and expectations for it. we do now have a really b viable speakers bureau that is there's being utilized by the school district with business leaders talking to classes. it hasn't obviously through COVID it hasn't been overly easy because of the the reduced class time. but we are zooming with classes now. I think we actually have a class next week that we're zooming to. a a class of probably a hundred around jobs and the healthcare industry. so I mean that's it things like that are important just so so that people are connected. And finally Brandon what I think is was is really very cool we would go see pre COVID we would go talk to businesses, industry, And everybody was saying, I I just need some I just need work, I just need a workforce. The the anchor to and anchor and being in the negative time, the anchor is keeping us from achieving the success, economics is success that we like is the is can't get workers. and so we'd have plants that we would be starting folks out at fifteen or twenty dollars an hour. And then we'd go into pockets of the community and that were where unemployment was high or underemployment was high, and they would say, Well, we don't know anything about these jobs. Where do you find these jobs? We don't have we don't have a jobs database of available jobs in the community. Now the Department of Labor has a jobs database, but it's a little bit onerous to get through. You've got to have, you know, you've got to have a resume on file, you've got to have password, and it can be it can be a little bit difficult. So we're work we worked. pretty hard over the last six months with our economic development organization and we have a jobs database that will have maybe four thousand four thousand forty five hundred jobs in our county available right here, right now. that will be updated daily. and our primary what what what we wanted, what we expect to be able to do, we would design this database to be usable for everybody. No, you don't have to have a password, you know I have have
20:56.758 David Bradley
have to have all this stuff. You don't have to have a resume. It's going to be available on everybody's site. But we really want to roll this out to high school juniors or sophomores, juniors and seniors, and to their parents, so that those guys know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Cause you know, some of these you know there are a lot of a lot of students who in tenth grade, they gosh, is is there any is there any reason for me to still be here? Yeah, there is. And here's the jobs database. If if if you want if you're looking to make twenty five dollars an hour, here's how you do it. Here's the here's the educational pathway to make that happen. So stick to your guns and stay in school and let's get you employed as quickly as we can. so we're really excited about the jobs database. and I've I've only seen the one like it in the southeast. it's I mean I I I think the work that we've done, the total work in the school in the school district and in being that hollow reed of connectivity, but also working on workforce development, I hope that we begin to see the a s a substantive payoff in the very near future.
22:15.852 Brandon Burton
Yeah. That jobs database sounds amazing. I'm thinking to myself, I've I have my oldest is 15. And I would love to say, here's a database for you to go look for a job. And but also I'm thinking if if there is an area of interest for that high school sophomore, junior, senior that they want in a career path, if they can go in this database and find a job, maybe it's, you know, starting at a lower hourly rate, but it's getting them an experience in that field that they have an interest in. And then see that there's opportunities to stay there in the community.
22:49.774 David Bradley
No question. and we have a like perhaps most folks have is we have a career academy as part of the school district. And in that career academy we have twelve or eleven eleven or twelve different pathways, academic pathways, whether devoted to career exploration, might be advanced manufacturing, culinary arts or medicine or healthcare. So what we'll do with each of the i if as as jobs are available in that field, we're gonna also attach that job to this is the career pathway, this is the career or the pathway at the career academy that can help you get that job and help you be successful. So it's really tied to trying to keep people in school and to and to give them hope that Now maybe maybe there's hope for for or that there's a reason for me to stick around where otherwise there might be
23:57.42 Brandon Burton
Yeah. So you had mentioned earlier and I love the vision of this. If if education was a a primary focus to make your school district the best that it can possibly be, then economic development is going to take care of itself. I I love that. And I probably butchered the the way that you said it, but I I think the the spirit of it's there. But how do you go about getting that vision? How do you how do you get the businesses to catch the bug? I mean, you can share the vision, but when you When they look at it and say, what's in it for me when I'm dedicating time to to go, you know, be a part of a committee or to go to this these schools? yes, there's the greater good, but how do you get them on board and get them excited?
24:40.942 David Bradley
Well I think that's I think that's the I think that's I think you have to find your champions. Right. You have to find the the the folks if if if it just comes out of my mouth, you know, that's almost what I'm paid to do. So find your champions that also see the same thing. We've got several champions that do. and so It it the more the more you know, we've got a a cab a caterpillar plant here in Athens. and the new general the general manager at the caterpillar plant could not be it could be no more pro education you know than he is. and so when when he talks, people listen. when one of the largest two of the largest regional banks in town, when they talk, people listen. And they're ready to talk and they're ready to make things happen. so it it's I I think if we get people engaged, we get people involved in the school in in schools and and just even that the engagement might be just walking in. that I i I I mean I've seen I've seen mine I've seen minds change and I've seen folks say, look, how can I be involved? Brandon, super easy. And this I haven't really talked about this, but school system this year said would is there any chance that the chamber might be interested in helping us Raise the profile of our employee of the month. Right? Super simple. Yeah. And they they have an employee of the month. And you know, would the chamber be interested in in trying to see if businesses might be able to provide, you know, a a little bit of a little bit of incentive or something along those lines? Send out one email. One email. we got we probably are just the each employee of the month is getting close to
26:28.118 Brandon Burton
Yeah.
26:52.792 David Bradley
Two or three thousand dollars worth of in either direct cash or some type of service. Yeah. So we were able to raise, and with one email, $30,000, $35,000. Now Athens might be different from a lot of other small smaller communities, but it just shows, I think, that people, the business community is, will do anything to help build a stronger education system.
27:17.868 Brandon Burton
Yeah, that is a easy example of just getting the businesses involved.
27:22.786 David Bradley
Yes. It's it's I mean it and does it's the smaller things like that which which give you which give me anyway a new breath of fresh air. Yeah. So I think we're on the right track. We're on the right track. You know, and and so here we are all we also have thirty five thousand students across the street at the University of Georgia.
27:45.081 Brandon Burton
that's where I was gonna go to next. How how does that tie in?
27:48.622 David Bradley
w we've got a great school of education. that oddly enough has been the school district and the and the UGA school of education have been a little bit disconnected and it it's for a variety of reasons.
28:08.716 David Bradley
We it we have we are we have built and are continuing to build to to build that hollow reading connectivity between UGA and the school district such that we're beginning to see a great deal more connectivity and engagement of student teachers. even even workshops and seminars for teachers you know that are that are co-coordinated through the UGA I mean that's it's we we are so close to I mean we're not that far away from really pushing the needle forward on public education. I'll and let me I'll throw this out to you too. my when we hit that thirteen hundred number mark in in two thousand four two thousand twenty four twenty
29:07.842 David Bradley
My hope is that we decide as a community, and the chamber will lead this up, that we will focus our our a lot of our educational work on third grade reading scores. Because third grade reading scores are and I've I've I've heard this time and time again that you know that the long-term prison construction is based on third grade reading scores. So and if a child comes into third grade and is reading a year or two, a level of year or two level below third grade level, they're not going to catch up, probably. So that differential is going to continue to to grow. And If it continues to grow then that person that that student who is at the low end of the reading level is going to get apathetic and lose lose enjoyment in touch with school. So what we think and w in having have conversations with with the folks at the edu GA's education department as well as their social social their social media Well, all the folks at UGA. Yeah, we believe that we can actually create a community-wide effort that singularly raises the needle on third grade reading scores. And that doesn't mean that you start teaching kids how to read in third grade. I mean, there's a whole lot of issues that go into it. But if we can address that and third grade reading scores is the metric that we use to measure our success. I think business would jump all
31:00.706 Brandon Burton
Yeah. And I think that hits that's very relevant right now as we're coming off the feet of COVID and a lot of the remote learning and and kids not being in in classrooms and it maybe they are now, but for some extended period of time, most of them are not. Yeah. And we've seen with our our our youngest two, they're right now their first and second grade. And as parents kind of looking in. We can see that that chasm between the the children that had attention from parents at home during that time of you know quarantine versus those that didn't get the attention as when in regards to reading, you know, spending time reading and developing. And so now our kids are back in school and they're you know more focus than what should be needed. is there trying to lift up those ones that are struggling so bad that fell so far behind. So it'll be interesting over these next few years to see or or even, you know, fifteen, twenty years from now what prisons look like, I guess. Yeah.
32:04.43 David Bradley
Okay.
32:09.526 David Bradley
And th th this it's it's a scary issue. I mean it really is. and I mean we all know this has been this has been I think one of the most difficult years that many of us have ever had to walk through. But we all have to stand we all have to it it's in it's it's our job certainly as chamber folks, it's our job to help create a vision for a better community, even despite the the malaise in which we have you know witnessed over the last thirteen months. and I I think connectivity to education is critical, is is one of the most critical things we can do because that's probably been the A a sector that has been rocked the hardest.
32:57.388 Brandon Burton
Yes, absolutely. So I know we need to start wrapping things up here, but I wanted to ask you, what would be one tip or action item that you would suggest to any of the chamber champions that are listening that they can do to help take their organization up to the next level?
33:15.8 David Bradley
Brandon, you know there's that adage that that probably everybody has heard, or every or most everybody has used, that if you've seen one chamber, you've seen one chamber. I think it's important, and and again, I'm a Stephen Covey devotee, but I I think we have to first seek to understand and then to be understood. I can't tell you how many times I've gone into
33:42.868 David Bradley
conversation with local government or or local business and wanted to wanted to jump in and just start preaching the gospel of the chamber. and occasionally I have the temperament to be able to say, well now wait a minute, why don't I just seek first to understand and then to be understood? And and I think that's it never fails that That mode, that that mentality helps create partnerships. And I chambers, I think, have to be Partnership connectors in the community. You know, I and and I think that the the mantra that we use here in the office is seek first to understand and then to be understood, whether it's through membership growth or creating new initiatives or having very hard conversations within the community, seek first to understand and to be understood.
34:52.246 Brandon Burton
I love that. So you've alluded a couple times in our discussion today about the future of the Athens Chamber, looking three, four years into the future. And as we look to the future of chambers in general, how do you see their the future and and their purpose more specifically going forward?
35:11.181 David Bradley
Yeah, that's such a good question.
35:16.664 David Bradley
I think In February of 2019, I'm not a hundred percent sure how I would have answered that question. But I think during the last year, the future has been thrust upon us. Right? We we have had to change I most of us have had to change what we do and how we do it. So we realized that our job had to be, and I mean this was you know basically the the world as we knew it shut down here in Georgia in March twelfth to thirteenth. And so by the by the following Monday, which I think was might have been the seventeenth, we had refocused our effort to we needed to be the the the source of fact-based information, again to be that Hollow Reed connector, so that our the business community knew what was happening in every facet that we could possibly engage them with. And we had to do anything and everything we could to make sure that businesses either received were able had the information to receive funding or that at least we could keep them as best we could in business and operating. We didn't focus much on networking. that chambers that our role is to be the connector in the community. And and I think that's to be connecting business to business, business to consumer, business to public policy. and I I think that's the role of the chamber going forward.
37:14.754 David Bradley
I think we've gotta expand our view a little bit and I would suggest that
37:24.478 David Bradley
If we concentrate on selling membership, then I think it's a short-term task. I think if you earn membership, it's a you have long opportunities for long-term prosperity. because I and I think businesses I I I believe if we've done our job well over the last year, there's been no time that I'm aware of in the history of this country where chambers have been any more important than they have been in the last year. So we just have to continue to focus on what what what the business sector needs and to be the
38:02.894 Brandon Burton
Absolutely. Very well said. so I'd like to to give an opportunity for anyone listening if they wanted to connect with you or follow up with how you're doing things there in Athens. What would be the best way for a listener to reach out and connect with you?
38:18.424 David Bradley
Yeah, my cell my cell phone is seven four two five three three one two eight or the office number is seven six five four nine six eight zero zero. and email is always the best, it's always a great way, and it's David dot bradley at Athensga dot com.
38:45.014 Brandon Burton
Right. Now we'll get that in the show notes for this episode, which will be found at Chamberchat Podcast dot com slash episode one hundred seventeen. But David, I wanted to thank you for spending time with us today here on Chamber Chat Podcast, sharing what you guys are doing there in Athens. I think it's a a great example and you shed some great insight.
39:03.438 David Bradley
thank you so much, Brandon. Thanks for thanks for what you do. We need you. we need, you know, you are the connector that that chambers. And so I want to thank you very much for your work.
39:17.11 Brandon Burton
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39:53.486 Brandon Burton
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