The City of Chattanooga today launched One Chattanooga Works, which will prioritize placing Chattanoogans aged 25-54 in local, in-demand jobs and working with community organizations to streamline the training and support they need to be successful.
“One Chattanooga Works is about growing our economy with our best asset – our people,” said Mayor Tim Kelly. “Our workforce development team dug into the data. It’s a 25 to 1 return on investment to incorporate tailored job training into economic incentives for companies. With this new initiative, we’ll be aligning resources across the city so more adults aged 25-54 can build careers right here in Chattanooga.”
The Upjohn Center studied the city and found it was eight times more likely for someone to get a job if incentives included job training for the jobs being created. After gathering initial information from both job seekers and employers through the website, the city is targeting late summer 2026 to start matching people with jobs. One Chattanooga Works will help ensure the new workforce system benefits existing residents.
“The launch of One Chattanooga Works is a critical step toward building a true ecosystem of opportunity across our city,” said Dr. Reginald Smith, president and chief executive officer of the Urban League of Greater Chattanooga. “By aligning workforce development with education, employer demand, and economic mobility, this initiative creates clear pathways from learning to earning and into sustainable careers. This kind of coordinated, system-level approach is essential to delivering measurable outcomes for Chattanooga residents and families, and represents the type of effort the Urban League of Greater Chattanooga can stand behind.”
Instead of relying on individual organizations to carry the load of workforce development, the city is convening around these specific areas: skills trainers, job placement specialists, support services, professional development, career exploration and work readiness.
“This is an invitation for our community partners to engage in systems building connecting labor supply with labor demand,” said Andrew Hudson, the city’s director of workforce development strategy. “In short, working from the open jobs back to the residents of Chattanooga who are underemployed and unemployed.”
One Chattanooga Works comes a month after the city opened the Small Business Resource Center, which serves as a one-stop-shop for entrepreneurs and local businesses to access tools, expertise and funding.
Along with the Upjohn Center, the city also worked with 1WF Solutions and Urban Reinvention Strategies to launch One Chattanooga Works.
“Chattanooga has the industrial foundation and assets it needs to compete and win in the 21st century economy—led by resilient manufacturing, world-class logistics, a growing healthcare system, first-mover quantum technology, and an outdoor recreation scene that draws and keeps talent. That is the Chattanooga Advantage,” Nick Lalla, managing principal for Urban Reinvention Strategies. “This strategy is a call to action for the city’s civic leaders, employers, investors, and community organizations to align behind a shared vision, mobilize capital, and do the work of connecting every resident to a good job. This is how Chattanooga empowers people to work and ensures that growth reaches everyone.”
“Chattanooga is proving that local government can be a genuine force multiplier in workforce development,” John Pallasch, CEO for One Workforce Solutions. “What stands out about Chattanooga’s approach is its willingness to hold itself and its partners to measurable outcomes. In my experience working with communities of every size across this country, that kind of institutional discipline is rare. The city’s commitment to transparency and results-driven governance — particularly in how it structures and oversees its PILOT and TIF programs — reflects exactly the kind of public-sector leadership that turns good intentions into real opportunity for working families.”