Tift County has a highly-skilled, motivated and diversified workforce that has proven attractive to national, regional and local companies who need well-trained, well-educated employees. The unemployment rate is 4.4% and has consistently dropped over the last decade.

Much of the success that the Tift County Development Authority has had in recruiting industries to our area and helping them grow and maximize their success is due to the partnerships we have formed with our local educational institutions. Southern Regional Technical College provides free customized workforce training to qualified businesses in Georgia, from pre-employment assessment and training to help companies hire the best employees to customized, job-specific training that delivers the exact skills that our industries are looking for. We also have working relationships with ABAC and the University of Georgia’s Tifton Campus, each of which have developed successful programs in a variety of fields to bring viable jobs to are area.

In 2016, the Development Authority partnered with the Tift County School System to garner $3.1 million in state funding to create the Tift County College and Career Academy. This program will give business and industry the opportunity to work with the local school system to develop a workforce that meets local needs. The Academy will feature classrooms and laboratories dedicated to instruction in the fields of healthcare, agriculture, computer science and engineering design among others along with equipment upgrades to match industry standards in mechatronics, metals/construction and business labs.