Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont to Rapidly Re-skill Charlotte Community Members with Interplay Learning’s Comersive Training Solution

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Goodwill Construction Skills Training Center prepares community members for promising trade careers in just weeks with Interplay’s online/VR training solutions. Participants will benefit from accelerated, job-relevant online training, the opportunity to enhance their existing skills and the flexibility to learn at any time of day.

Austin, TX – April 20, 2021 Interplay Learning, the global leader in training essential skilled trade workers, announced today that it partnered with the nonprofit, Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont at its Goodwill Construction Skills Training Center. The partnership began in December 2020 with the goal to offer safe, interactive training to community members looking to launch or advance trade careers amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Across the Charlotte region, unemployment reached a historic high in 2020, while opportunities in the construction industry grew 3%, creating a widespread labor gap. Interplay’s training solution enables Goodwill to meet an urgent need in the Charlotte market by providing job seekers with in-demand skills, so they may capitalize on available opportunities within the construction industry.

“Goodwill is all about helping people see possibilities, seize opportunities and prosper,” said Marvin Kelley, Director of Construction & Trade Training at Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont. “Using Interplay allows more community members to see the possibilities that exist within skilled trades careers, helping participants simulate hands-on experiences during this time when we’re all socially distant and on-site builds aren’t possible. Interactive training offerings like Interplay’s, coupled with the personal support and career coaching Goodwill offers, are helping more people in our community launch new careers and change their circumstances to achieve their goals.”

“We are thrilled that Interplay was able to enhance Goodwill’s skills training in essential industries to many of its community members, and that their graduates are finding success in the industry,” said Doug Donovan, Founder and CEO of Interplay Learning. “Goodwill’s addition of our VR training for HVAC, plumbing, electrical and facilities maintenance, allows its program participants to quickly access the hands-on style of learning needed to gain the skills they need to launch new careers. Interplay’s platform complements Goodwill’s career training programs’ wraparound supports such as coaching, basic needs and more, to help people build better careers and better lives. We’re honored to assist Goodwill in this endeavor and love seeing our mission at work.”

Visit https://www.interplaylearning.com/ to learn more about Interplay Learning.

Visit https://www.goodwillsp.org/construction to learn more about the Goodwill Construction Skills Training Center.

About Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont

Goodwill exists to help people see possibilities, seize opportunities and prosper. The nonprofit has been serving individuals and families in the Southern Piedmont region of North and South Carolina for 55 years. Goodwill operates 26 retail stores and has more than 30 donation sites in the region. As a social enterprise, proceeds from the sale of donated goods fund job training and employment services offered free of charge to members of the community. Goodwill partners with individuals as they identify their strengths, interests and goals, and develop marketable skills to pursue meaningful and fulfilling work that provides financial well-being, personal growth and advancement. In 2020, Goodwill helped 697 people launch new careers, provided coaching to 1,381 individuals and helped 397 people complete training. Visit https://goodwillsp.org/ to learn more.

About Interplay Learning

Founded in 2016, Austin, Texas-based Interplay Learning is the leading global provider of online and VR training for the essential skilled trades. The firm develops and delivers scalable, highly effective digital learning simulations for the HVAC, Plumbing, Electrical, Solar, Multi-family Maintenance and Facilities Maintenance workforce. Using Comersive Learning technology, Interplay Learning allows its customers to practice hands-on learning and train to be job-ready in weeks, not years. The company is an AHR Expo – Innovations Awards 2020 Winner. Interplay Learning is building better training, better careers and better lives for its customers and their employees. Welcome to the next generation of the skilled labor workforce. Visit https://www.interplaylearning.com/ to learn more.

Media Contact

Ria Romano
RPR Public Relations, Inc.
786-290-6413

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