Forget the Commute & Networking

There’s the church where he was baptized; it’s the one his father and grandfather attended as boys. The woods that filled with laughter as he camped with other young Boy Scouts. For Will Thacker, Cherokee County is the only home he’s ever known: his family has lived here for seven generations.

Cherokee County has changed over the years. Will’s life is changing, too. Will graduated from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College with a degree in Diversified Agriculture in 2015. In August, he married his 24-year-old bride, Brittany. When the newlyweds began looking for their first home, they wanted only one thing: A property close to where they work. Will’s career is at Pilgrim’s, one of Cherokee’s oldest industries. Brittany is a pre-op nurse for Northside Hospital Cherokee. “Before we were married, Brittany worked at a hospital in Griffin,” Will began. “She had anywhere from a 45 minute to an hour commute. I knew she was ready for a change on that end and personally, I didn’t want a long commute either. We didn’t want much, but we did want that.”

They got it. The couple recently bought a home in Holly Springs. “Everything fell right into place like it was meant to be,” he smiled. Like other young couples, Will and Brittany know why Holly Springs was recently ranked the 17th Best Suburb for Millennials in Georgia. They also enjoy more leisure and less time spent in the car, since their commute is just minutes to their workplace.

78 percent of Cherokee’s residents are leaving home before daylight, bracing for a white-knuckle commute. But now there’s more opportunity to work close to home than ever before. In 2016 alone, Cherokee’s labor force grew by almost 15,000 people. New and existing industry generated more than 1,370 career opportunities.

There is no sign of a slowdown either. Quite the opposite, in fact: the Cherokee Office of Economic Development (COED) has seen a steady increase in business prospects since 2013. Last year alone the increase was 20 percent over the year before.

Forget the commute like Will and Brittany, and live, work and play close to home in Cherokee County.

We know that connecting with employers or finding time to fill out an online job application can be a daunting task. We also know when companies and job seekers are able to establish a relationship that the results are limitless. COED hosts several events each month to provide professional development, resources, and networking opportunities for a wide variety of career interests.