Shaw Industries employee Stephen Ambrose, right, receives his Fast Track Skills Training Certificate from Georgia Northwestern Technical College President C. Pete McDonald while Shaw Industries representatives look on.
Georgia Northwestern Technical College graduated its second group of Fast Track Maintenance Skills students on Aug.15 at the college’s Whitfield Murray Campus. A grant from the Technical College System of Georgia is allowing local companies to select qualified employees for specialized training which would move their employees into industrial maintenance positions.
The 10-week Introduction to Maintenance Skills Training Class allows students to earn 400 hours of industrial systems training.
The option is then available for these graduates to move into the college’s Industrial Systems program for continued education. The companies pay these select trainees their regular salary for attending this training.
Companies which took part in the special training program were Engineered Floors, J & J Industries, Mohawk Industries, and Shaw Industries. Earning certificates from Shaw Industries were Stephen Ambrose, Michael Dalton, Christopher Green, Stacey Mashburn, and James Smith. Earning certificates from Engineered Floors were Chaston Carrell, Billy Green, and Jeremy Summers. Earning certificates from Mohawk Industries were Ronny Ducas, Kenneth Phillips, and Benjamin Queen. Earning a certificate from J & J Industries was Rod Franklin.
The program began at Georgia Northwestern in September 2013. The first group of participants were unemployed and hired through the Georgia Department of Labor to specifically take part in the training initially funded by the Workforce Investment Act. The second group which graduated last week was completely made up of current employees at the participating companies.
The next Fast Track program begins on Sept. 8. For more information, contact the Georgia Northwestern Director of Business and Industry Services Patty Hart at 706-272-2980.
Students from Georgia Northwestern Technical College’s Fast Track Maintenance Skills Training program posed for a photo following their graduation Aug. 15 at the Whitfield Murray Campus in Dalton, Ga. Pictured in the front row, from left, are Billy Green, Engineered Floors; Rod Franklin, J & J Industries; Chaston Carrell, Engineered Floors; Stephen Ambrose, Shaw Industries; and Christopher Green, Shaw Industries. Shown in the second row, from left, are Jeremy Summers, Engineered Floors; James Smith, Shaw Industries; Stacey Mashburn, Shaw Industries; Michael Dalton, Shaw Industries; Kenneth Phillips, Mohawk Industries; and Benjamin Queen, Mohawk Industries. Behind the graduates are Georgia Northwestern Technical College administration and participating industry representatives from across Northwest Georgia.