Regional Industry Support Enterprise (RISE)

RISE Board of Directors. Front Row (left to right): Ryan Purvis, Roger Moss, Kay Ford, Dr. Kyle Marrero, Jeff Glazer. Back Row (left to right): Todd Wall, Paul Roesel, Jessica Hood, Adam Kennedy, Stephen Milner, Hannah Mullins. Not pictured: Rep. Al Williams, Brynn Grant, City of Savannah Mayor Van Johnson, Trip Tollison.

RISE strengthens workforce connections, advances regional opportunities in 2025

2025 was another great year for the Regional Industry Support Enterprise (RISE). From hosting our first 8^th Grade Experience with more than 1,000 8^th-grade students to organizing another successful regional best practices trip, the RISE team continued to make a positive impact on the region’s workforce. 

The RISE team had the opportunity to impact thousands of job seekers from all over the region by hosting and partnering on hiring events. From the two-day Regional Job Palooza that attracted more than 2,400 job seekers across two days, to the Building Your Future: Career and College Showcase that the RISE team hosted with 200 high-school seniors who were either not going to college or who were unsure of their plans after graduation, to the event RISE partnered with EOA on to target underrepresented populations, the RISE team’s work on regional hiring events continued to make a positive impact for job seekers and employers.

The RISE team hosted two alignment summits in 2025, one for military and another for higher education. Key stakeholders from all over the region came out to both of these summits to discuss how to create better connections with our regional workforce and industries. Lists of action items were developed during both summits that will help inform the work of RISE going forward.

The RISE team partnered with Georgia Southern University (GSU) to conduct a childcare needs assessment in 2025 that will provide key information as we continue to examine what we can do as a region to create greater access to affordable childcare in the region. Additionally, the RISE team has continued to assist the Georgia Department of Transportation with its Commuter Feasibility Study, which will help identify potential alternative transportation options that would allow our regional economy to continue to flourish.

The 8^th Grade Experience was an event that brought more than 1,000 8^th-grade students to the Armstrong Campus of GSU for a half-day of hands-on career exploration activities. This event was meant to be fun, interactive and educational, and our team accomplished all these goals. Students were able to actively engage with employers by playing games, solving puzzles or participating in team-building exercises related to the careers available with those employers. Through this program, participating 8^th-grade students had an engaging, real-world experience that we hope will stick with them and help them make informed decisions as they choose their Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education (CTAE) pathways in high school.

One of the RISE Team’s most popular initiatives is the annual best practices trip. These trips are organized to provide leaders in the RISE region with the opportunity to learn about successful initiatives in other communities related to RISE’s key pillars (Education, Military, Childcare, Housing, Transportation, Underrepresented and Marketing). In 2025, 35 leaders representing all eight of the RISE counties participated in a trip to West Georgia. Our hope is that the initiatives learned about on these trips can serve as inspiration for programs to be implemented in our region to support our workforce.

There were several key successes related to marketing in 2025, including the launch of the RISE website and Industry Insiders program. The RISE website will now serve as a key resource for our regional stakeholders, and our Industry Insiders are actively going out to spread the message of the great careers in industry available in the region.  Additionally, the Succeed in Savannah campaign was continued to market the high quality of life and concentration of career opportunities available in the RISE region.

2025 Year in Review

The

RISE Staff

RISE Staff