Unemployment in Oglethorpe County has remained relatively unchanged the past five years, despite challenges in the county and efforts to improve employment opportunities.
“It’s very difficult because we don’t really have a huge retail tax base or any kind of big industry for them to get employment,” said Linda Parish, Depot manager and events coordinator for the Chamber of Commerce. “We don’t have the infrastructure in the county to support big industries.”
As of August, the most recent data available due to the federal government shutdown, the county’s unemployment rate is 3.2%, which is in line with the state of Georgia’s rate of 3.4%.
That means 238 people are unemployed in Oglethorpe County out of 7,468 in the county’s labor force, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
To have businesses that provide more employment for county residents, Ronnie Boggs, chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, said entrepreneurs must understand Oglethorpe County well.
“You have to know your market,” he said. “If you’re in the feed, seed and farm supply business, you’re positioning yourself pretty good because this is an agricultural-based county. But if you’re trying to do something different, it’s difficult.”
To be counted as unemployed and apply for benefits, a person must be out of a job through no fault of their own and be either looking for another job, have a definite recall within six weeks of the last day worked or are in approved training.
For high schoolers and those who fall in the unskilled labor category, finding sustainable employment can be especially challenging in Oglethorpe County.
“There are opportunities that generally fall in the area of working at Burger King or restaurants or something like that,” Boggs said. “So I would say there are opportunities that are limited.”
But, the Chamber of Commerce is also working to address this issue.
More often than not, individuals seeking employment require more training or education. That’s why the chamber encourages county residents to take advantage of established training programs.
“We do have the GED program that we have in Crawford where they can get a diploma,” Parish said. “There’s a lot of programs at Athens Tech, and they can take classes in different things that would get them a job in a certain industry.”
The Chamber is also looking to implement its Patriot Bucks program in partnership with the development authority to encourage people to shop at small businesses.
“We’re giving people money, like a card that they can spend at different small businesses in the county, and then the chamber gets reimbursed from the development authority,” Parish said. “We’re both trying to help the small businesses in that way.”
Boggs said the county’s population has increased since unemployment peaked at 9.8% in April 2020 due to COVID-19. So, officials are focused on sustainably planning job growth.
“Whatever growth we have, we want to make sure we have good neighbors,” he said. “Good neighbors, business-wise, means businesses that are clean industry and clean businesses that employ people within the county.”
Eva Saraf is a junior at Athens Academy.