Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Monday his agency is still measuring the extent of the state’s farm labor shortages and added it is too early to call the problem a “crisis.”
The Republican commissioner said his agency has dispatched representatives to meet with farmers in South Georgia and ask them how the Labor Department could help fill any open jobs. Butler said a labor survey the Agriculture Department is sending farmers will also help him gauge the scope of the problem.
Gov. Nathan Deal asked for the survey last month in a letter to Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black(cq). Deal said he wants Black's department to survey farmers about the impact Georgia's new immigration enforcement law, House Bill 87, is having on their industry and report findings by Friday. Georgia farmers are complaining the new law is scaring away migrant farmworkers.
Asked about the impact of HB 87, Butler said a combination of factors could be to blame for the labor shortages, including the types of jobs farmers have open and what they pay.
“One season is not enough to pass judgment,” Butler predicted. “Maybe we do have some farmers that are having a hard time hiring right now, but next year they may not because… once they have to get used to hiring legal workers maybe they will be there.”
JEREMY REDMON
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Construction is under way on a $7 million renovation and expansion of Grady Memorial Hospital’s trauma facilities.
The new Marcus Trauma Center will increase the number of major trauma bays from four to eight and add eight minor to moderate trauma rooms -- increasing the hospital’s ability to handle mass casualty situations. Money for the project was donated by the Marcus Foundation.
Grady is metro Atlanta’s only Level 1 trauma center and averages nearly 3,000 major trauma cases each year. MISTY WILLIAMS
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Four Atlanta area schools have been awarded Lowe’s Toolbox-for-Education grants from Lowe’s Charitable and Education Foundation. The grants help fund parent-initiated school improvements. They include: $2,000 to Atlanta’s Kennedy Middle School for a vegetable garden; $2,775 to Canton’s Creekland Middle School for band instrument storage; and $5,000 and $3,000 respectively to Gainesville’s McEver Elementary School and Tadmore Elementary School. McEver’s project is an arts academy greenhouse, and Tadmore’s is an outdoor garden classroom. NANCY BADERTSCHER
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
County by county
Doing Good
Volunteer group helps save abandoned dogs. B5
Actual Factual Georgia
How did Memorial Drive become Memorial Drive? B4
About the Author
