The Career Choice Classroom at the Chattanooga Amazon Fulfillment Center
Amazon on Tuesday announced a new investment at its Chattanooga fulfillment center and the expansion of its Career Choice Program with a dedicated on-site classroom. The classroom is built with high-end technology features and is designed with glass walls to inspire and generate encouragement from peers, said officials.n
Amazon has partnered with Chattanooga State Community College, which led Tuesday’s Computer Aided Drafting Engineering Drawing class.
The classroom allows associates participating in Amazon’s Career Choice program to take college classes, industry certifications courses, college readiness programs and business skill seminars on-site.
More than 3,000 full-time employees at the facility are eligible to enroll in the on-site class or any other course related to high-demand fields through the Career Choice Program after they have been with the company for one year. Through this benefit, Amazon will pre-pay 95 percent of employees’ tuition up to $12,000 during four years as well as reimbursement for books, supplies and fees on the first day of class. This is regardless of whether the skills taught in the class are related to jobs at Amazon.
Since the program launched, it has helped employees pursue degrees in game design and visual communications, nursing, IT programming and radiology. Top chosen fields of study for Amazon employees are computer and information technology, health and sciences and accounting.
“These types of intentional partnerships play an important role in our Drive to 55 initiative to increase the percentage of Tennesseans with a degree or certificate beyond high school from 32 to 55 percent by 2025,” Governor Bill Haslam said. “The state’s ability to attract and retain business is tied directly to the quality of our workforce, and we must find ways for adults to return to higher education if we’re going to achieve our goals.”
"We are honored to partner with Amazon to provide students opportunities to pursue their passion in a convenient onsite option that makes it easier for them to attend College classes," said Dr. Flora Tydings, president of Chattanooga State Community College. "Chattanooga State remains ready to partner with business and industry leaders to help educate our local workforce, and the Career Choice Classroom at Amazon is a great example of what is possible."
The Career Choice Classroom at the Chattanooga Amazon Fulfillment Center