AMAZON.COM TO PROMOTE GED ATTAINMENT

Leading online retailer Amazon.com has joined with Commerce Lexington’s Workforce Development Partnership, the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and Kentucky Adult Education-Council on Postsecondary Education to expand the  Go, Earn, Do – GED initiative to help adults in an eight-county Central Kentucky area achieve their GED. 

Amazon.com will provide up to $40 for a GED test fee reimbursement, a $20 Amazon.com gift card and preference in hiring to GED graduates who are residents of Bourbon, Clark, Fayette, Garrard, Jessamine, Madison, Scott and Woodford counties, where most of Amazon’s Lexington facility employees live.  Amazon requires the minimum of a GED for employment at its Kentucky facilities.  The test fee reimbursement and gift card will be available to all GED graduates in the counties, regardless of whether they are interested in Amazon.com employment.  

Amazon.com, which operates several Kentucky fulfillment centers for its U.S. Web site, launched the Go, Earn, Do – GED program in 20 Campbellsville-area counties in 2005 with Team Taylor County, Kentucky Adult Education and the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce as part of a two-year pilot program.  Since then, more than 1,100 people in 20 counties have successfully earned their GED through the program.  

“We have been very pleased with the results of the Go, Earn, Do program in the Campbellsville area, and we are proud to expand this initiative to other parts of Kentucky,” said Janet Harris, general manager of Amazon.com’s Lexington fulfillment center.  “We are excited to support this innovative partnership to advance workforce skills and to be a catalyst for economic growth in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.” 

“Amazon officials are to be commended for their strong commitment to education,” said Sarah Hindman Hawker, vice president for Kentucky Adult Education-Council on Postsecondary Education.  “Their support helps prepare employees for their company plus builds a better workforce for the entire region.

“In addition, helping Kentucky adults earn a GED not only provides a gateway to better jobs but also to postsecondary education, self sufficiency and a higher quality of life,” she said.

Amazon has committed $100,000 to the Go, Earn, Do initiative.  Commerce Lexington has provided staff support for implementing and marketing the program in the Lexington area, and the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce manages contributions for the initiative.  In addition, the following organizations have contributed funding toward promoting Go, Earn, Do in Central Kentucky:
Bluegrass Society for Human Resources Management, Bluegrass Workforce Investment Board, Commerce Lexington Economic Development and Clear Channel Radio.

Adult education centers in every Kentucky county provide free GED classes, workforce education, family literacy, English as a second language and literacy instruction at all levels. To find the center in your county, call Kentucky Adult Education at 800-928-7323 or visit www.kyae.ky.gov.