Renea Covington, community initiatives director at the Housing Authority of Bowling Green, said she and her coworkers “try to tear down the walls and break the chains,” which she believes will be more possible with a new collaboration with the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce.

The chamber announced Tuesday that it is collaborating with the nonprofit Housing Authority and Goodwill Industries of Kentucky, Inc. on a workforce initiative. The announcement was made at KOBE Aluminum Automotive Products.

The collaboration will develop a talent-matching program that will put people in available jobs in Bowling Green and Warren County. The chamber works with local businesses to identify job openings and needs through the workforce coordinator position funded by the city and county. The chamber has already identified 40 companies with more than 300 openings and expects those numbers to grow.

Greg Head, corporate officer at KAAP, said putting an emphasis on hiring people who might otherwise struggle finding a job is good for the “circle of life” of the economy.

“We consider ourselves a maker of money with a product,” Head said. “Because we make money, we can hire employees, and because we hire employees, they can pay taxes.”

Head said whenever KAAP hires a new employee, he wonders how many children will get new tennis shoes because a parent just got a job. Investing in employees is the key to a healthy future, he said.

“We will continue to grow … because when we hire our employees, we welcome them as part of our family,” Head said.

Head said a few of KAAP’s 300 employees were once homeless and are now in better shape because of the job they were able to find at KAAP. Creating opportunities for one person could open future opportunities for children and grandchildren, Head said.

“That’s why we’re here. That’s why all of us are here: to look toward the future,” Head said.

T.J. Shockley-Hunt, workforce development manager for Goodwill, said Kentucky’s 63 Goodwill centers work hard to put unemployed people to work.

“Goodwill has a saying, and that is, ‘We turn jeans into jobs,’ ” Shockley-Hunt said.

In Bowling Green, Goodwill’s Job Junction, where people can get assistance with resumes, interviewing and job hunting, is at 1806 U.S. 31-W By-Pass.

“We’re here to help the community,” Shockley-Hunt said. “Together, we’re going to make a difference in the community.”

Covington said the community initiatives service provides job training through HABG and last year had 87 unduplicated participants and a 92 percent success rate. She said the partnership with the chamber will help continue that success.

“We’re looking to flourishing it and utilizing it to help everyone become self-sufficient,” Covington said.

— Follow business beat reporter Monica Spees on Twitter at twitter.com/BGDNbusiness or visit bgdailynews.com.