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Recognitions and Distinctions
Georgia Trend magazine names TCSG Commissioner Greg Dozier to its 100 Most Influential Georgians
“Dozier leads TCSG’s mission to provide Georgia businesses with a highly trained, skilled workforce . Recent progress includes a collaboration with the Georgia Department of Education that allows high school students to receive TCSG college credits for certain career, technical, and agricultural education courses, plus construction of a $5 .8 million regional logistics and transportation training center at Georgia Piedmont Technical College .” – Georgia Trend
TCSG’s Derek Dabrowiak wins Ventana Research Digital Leadership Award
Dabrowiak, assistant commissioner for student affairs and secondary initiatives, was named the winner in the Customer Experience category . The 14th Annual Digital Leadership Awards recognize individuals and companies that have embraced the use of technology to help them lead their organizations and optimize the readiness across their people, processes, information, and technology to grow their business impact and industry potential . The Customer Experience award recognizes the organization and technology that best exemplifies leadership in applications and technologies that support the engagement with customers for any purpose . Dabrowiak was recognized for his leadership in collaborating with tech partners Salesforce and TargetX to improve the customer experience .
TCSG’s Pascael Beaudette Named Data and Analytics Leader of the Year
Beaudette, executive director of research and business intelligence, was named the Data and Analytics Leader of the Year for Innovation by the Leadership Excellence Awards committee . This award recognizes outstanding executives in data-related roles, who demonstrate exemplary leadership through real-world achievements in their field.
Wiregrass Georgia Technical College Student Wins 2022 GOAL Award
Ryan Degner, a welding and joining technology student from Wiregrass Georgia Technical College, was chosen as this year’s Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership (GOAL) winner . As the grand prize winner, Ryan received a brand new, made-in-Georgia, 2022 KIA K5, courtesy of KIA Georgia .
The National Council for Marketing and Public Relations presented its Gold Medallion Award to the Communications Office at TCSG for its “Succeed Sooner” marketing campaign, which is directed at high school students and their influencers. The award recognizes outstanding achievement in design and communication .
Area Development magazine names Georgia the “Top State for Doing Business” for the eighth year in a row
The publication’s annual poll of leading site-consulting firms from across the U.S. considers 13 different factors to make this determination . In addition to top state, Georgia earned a No. 1 ranking in five categories, including workforce development programs.
Gwinnett Technical College Instructor Wins 2022 Rick Perkins Award
Jeffrey White, a physics instructor from Gwinnett Technical College, was chosen as the winner of the 2022 Rick Perkins Award for Excellence in Technical Instruction .
“It’s GO Time” Video Series Wins Gold in 43rd Annual Telly Awards
TCSG’s Adult Education video series “It’s GO Time” won the Gold Award in the Social Video – Series: Education & Discovery category in the 43rd Annual Telly Awards . The Telly Awards honor excellence in video and television across all screens and are judged by leaders from video platforms, television, streaming networks, and production companies .
Oconee Fall Line Technical College Student Wins Adult Education Student of the Year Award
Rochelle White was named the 2022 Dinah Culbreath Wayne Exceptional Adult Georgian in Literacy Education (EAGLE) Award winner for outstanding achievement in the state’s adult education program .
Devlynn Taylor from Augusta Technical College was named the 2022 Outstanding Adult Education Teacher of the Year .
CUSTOM MADE
Ogeechee Technical College provides specialized industrial maintenance training to support manufacturing’s new direction
By Christy Simo
If you think of manufacturing and picture dirty, dangerous jobs, it’s time to erase that image . Gone are the days of the hazardous production floor. Today’s facilities are sleek and modernized, with automated robotics handling the most challenging work .
“It’s not the dirty, dingy job that it used to be,” said
Ogeechee Technical College (OTC) President Lori Durden . “A lot of these facilities are state of the art, highly automated, with very technical kinds of jobs inside these plants now . ”
According to the International Federation of Robotics, the number of industrial robots worldwide is growing by around 14% annually . Along with this increase in automation, the nature of manufacturing jobs is changing, and the Technical
College System of Georgia (TCSG) is changing right along with it .
With technology ever evolving, it’s crucial that employees have the most current knowledge and skills when working with robotics on the manufacturing floor. That’s where TCSG comes in .
Colleges like Ogeechee Tech in Statesboro are launching new programs and initiatives in partnership with some of the biggest companies in the world to create a skilled workforce for businesses here in Georgia and around the country .
And that’s crucial now more than ever .
“There’s a labor crisis, not just in Georgia, but in this country right now . There’s help wanted signs everywhere,” Durden said . “People need skilled employees . By partnering, not just with Ogeechee Tech, but any Technical College System college in Georgia, companies can help take control of growing their own workforce . ”
TCSG’s primary goal is to support the state’s economic ecosystem . For eight consecutive years, Georgia has been named the No . 1 state to do business with, according to Site Selection magazine, and a big part of that is because of TCSG and its initiatives to support Georgia’s businesses .
“At the end of the day, that’s what we’re here for,” said Jan Moore, vice president for economic development for OTC . “Our job is to make sure that we serve our industries by meeting their training needs . In doing so, they have the skilled employees that are integral to their success, which is a critical factor in the continued stabilization of our local economy and the success of our workforce .
One way TCSG is accomplishing that goal when it comes to robotics is by partnering with specific companies to provide customized training programs .
If you work in manufacturing, you’re familiar with FANUC America Corp . It’s the world leader in industrial robotics, supplying robots, computer numerical control (CNC) systems, and factory automation to manufacturing companies around the country .
There are hundreds of manufacturers in Georgia that use FANUC robotics for their manufacturing lines . Briggs & Stratton, which manufactures small engines for power generation, lawn, and garden turf care in Statesboro, for example, uses more than 65 FANUC robots throughout its facility .
Working with FANUC robotics requires a specific skill set, and companies must send their employees to one of 15 FANUC Authorized Satellite Training (FAST) sites scattered throughout the United States to ensure they are up to date on the skills needed to maintain these complex robotics . But until recently, there were no such sites here in Georgia . Ogeechee Tech set about to change that .
After a three-year process, OTC became a FAST site in November 2020 . It’s an exclusive club – OTC is one of only four colleges in the U .S . that hosts a FANUC training facility and is the only site in Georgia .
Now, manufacturers don’t have to send their employees outside the state to be trained, incurring the financial costs that entails. Instead, they can travel to Statesboro to receive their initial robotics training and certifications. Plus, companies in neighboring states can send employees to be trained at OTC as well .
The FANUC robotics training takes place in the college’s Industrial Technology Building, which opened in 2019 . Along with the FANUC Robotics Lab, the building is also home to several of OTC’s industrial programs and houses its high-tech Amatrol Industrial Maintenance Training Lab .
Ogeechee Technical College President Lori Durden
Industrial Maintenance Fast Track Program trainee Alonzo Evans Jr.
As consumers order more items online, especially during the pandemic, companies such as Amazon have established fulfillment centers throughout Georgia to ensure fast one- to two-day delivery – there are more than 30 in metro Atlanta alone . Every one of those facilities need employees to maintain the robotics that pick and choose people’s orders in the warehouses . That’s where OTC stepped in .
Ogeechee Tech was invited to apply to be a certified Amazon Mechatronics and Robotics Apprenticeship (MRA) training provider, and after a rigorous process, was selected in 2021 as one of only five colleges in the country . The other four training partner colleges are in Indiana, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Texas .
The program, which is registered with the U .S . Department of Labor, is a 12week intensive training course that provides the industrial maintenance skills and the technical knowledge needed as a technical maintenance employee with Amazon, at no cost to the participants . Apprentices who complete the training – which includes four certification exams – begin a year of on-the-job learning with Amazon, after which they are eligible for a full-time role as a mechatronics junior technician . According to Amazon, those who complete the full MRA program can see an increase of nearly 40% in pay .
“It’s a win for them, too,” Durden said . “It makes them a better employee, a more valuable employee, and it gives them the opportunity to provide for their family . ”
The first group of apprentices started in March 2021 . The college subsequently trained three additional cohorts in 2021, and welcomed its fifth cohort of 32 students from around the country, from California to Connecticut, this past January .
Offering Full Access
While the FANUC Robotics Training Lab and the Amazon MRA are highly specialized training provided in partnership with specific companies, Ogeechee Tech also offers a more comprehensive option for any company that wishes to train new or existing employees on the latest skills to keep them up-to-date and competitive in today’s economy .
“People are continuing to demand goods and services . They may be receiving them a different way, but however they’re receiving them, there is still manufacturing automation behind all of it,” Moore said . “If you look at reports of robotics sales … the demand is through the roof . ”
At the same time, the people traditionally trained in industrial maintenance – in essence, the people trained to keep the machines running – are aging out of the workforce .
“The employees that have been doing this for the last 20 to 30 years are retiring, and it is very difficult to find skilled individuals to replace them,” Moore said .
Encouraging people to join the industrial maintenance workforce when they may not even be familiar with the term can be a challenge .
“Companies have to be creative on how they attract employees these days . It’s not as simple as just posting an ad and lots of people apply,” Durden said . “They’ve got to take an active role in upskilling their existing employees . We can help them do that . ”
To meet that demand, OTC established the groundbreaking Full Access Industrial Maintenance Training program in January 2020 .
Rather than requiring companies to pay by the course when training employees, the program instead provides full access to the college’s industrial maintenance training services for an annual fee . Companies then have access to any training module – or can create their own – for a set cost per year, including access to trainings inside OTC’s state-of-the-art industrial maintenance lab facilities, as well as on-site training at its participating manufacturing plants . “It does two things . One, it allows our manufacturers to do a line item in their budget, like a subscription, where they know they can manage their training costs year in and year out,” Moore said . “Secondly, it allows the college to train more individuals at a time, because we don’t necessarily have to tailor the training to an individual company for something basic . We can have companies send their employees to train as part of a larger cohort . ”
Companies can train at their own pace, place employees in apprenticeship programs, take advantage of pre-employment and post-employment screening and assessment programs, and participate in short courses in electrical, motor controls PLCs, and other specialties as needed .
One company that has enrolled in the full-access program is JTEKT North America Corp . Its Sylvania facility produces ball bearings for the automotive, industrial aftermarket, and aerospace industries and employs 437 people . The company has been a partner with OTC for several years, so when the college launched the full access program, they were immediately on board .
“Part of our responsibility is to ensure the success of our employees, putting them in the right jobs to ensure success and offering them these opportunities to upscale their knowledge and training, and the OTC program helps do that,” said Bobby Jones, materials/manufacturing manager for JTEKT’s Sylvania plant . “That program keeps up with the changes to technology . It keeps us relevant . ”
In its first year, the program was limited to six manufacturers, and it continues to grow, adding both instructors and classes customized to manufacturers’ requests .
“The industrial systems full access program that OTC provides has been a game changer for us here,” Jones said . “OTC is able to tailor to our technical needs . The training classes are even customized down to a company level . So that’s been extremely advantageous to us . ”
Bill Stuart, human resources manager for JTEKT North America Corp ., notes that the employees who are trained through the full access program come back to JTEKT not just with new skills, but with a renewed dedication and outlook .
“They’re excited again,” he said . “This opportunity provides them a way to step up to a different level quicker . ”
“They see us as an employer investing in them and in their future,” Jones adds .
Durden agrees that there are many reasons why a company should participate in the full-access program .
“It gives them control over helping to grow and groom a workforce,” Durden said . “They know that we’re here as a resource for them . So it’s a win-win for sure . ”
Providing Local Support
The 22 technical colleges around the state of Georgia are part of the fabric of their local communities, and that’s no different for Ogeechee Tech . For the past 10 years, the college has participated in a monthly economic development working group, comprised of representatives from 14 regional stakeholders and 19 local businesses representing some 5,000 employees, to ensure it is meeting local manufacturers’ needs .
“The technical college’s mission is to go in and meet their manufacturers, their business and industry partners, where they are . And you need to assess, what are your training needs? Can we meet all of your training needs?” Moore said . “The technical college, from a training standpoint, is a backbone of every community that it serves . ”
When business owners expressed there was a need for more skilled industrial maintenance employees several years ago, OTC sprang into action . The FANUC training program, Amazon MRA, and the Full Access Industrial Maintenance Training Program all evolved from those initial conversations .
The college is also flexible, making sure to offer training in multiple ways that can be adapted to each company’s needs . That includes two new academic programs for manufacturing engineering technology assistants geared toward highschool aged dual-enrollment students. The certificates lead to a degree in industrial systems technology and are just another way TCSG is dedicated to creating a skilled industrial manufacturing workforce pipeline .
“Local manufacturers and industries desperately need individuals with these skills, and you can’t limit it as to how they get those skills,” Moore said . “Do they need to get them on the non-credit side, through structured, short-term trainings? Do they need to get those skills through the credit side by earning a certificate, diploma, or degree? … To truly address the need, we need to be as flexible as we possibly can by providing pathways that complement one another .”
“The great thing about the Technical College System is how nimble we are,” Durden said . “We can start up a program relatively quickly . That is certainly what is going to keep us relevant in the years to come . ”
For now, OTC will continue to listen to its local businesses and keep providing the training and educational opportunities needed to support the surrounding economy .
“The dedication and passion that OTC has had for supporting the area’s industries and keeping the technology offering for training there, it’s been great . I can’t speak too highly,” JTEKT’s Jones said . “It’s really been a great process . ”
