Economic Development News

With the addition of four new members, the August 25 meeting marked the first one of the 2020-2021 GPTC Board of Directors. This ten-member team of community and business leaders is committed to working in close cooperation with GPTC President Tavarez Holston to accomplish the college's mission and goals. The meeting was held virtually via WebEx, as the college continues to practice socially distancing in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Plans succeed because of many advisers. Our...

  Six male students housed at the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) State Transitional Reentry Center were honored with a virtual graduation ceremony on August 10, 2020, as members of Cohort 1 of GPTC’s Fast Track Welding Program. The program is designed to provide valuable welding skills for students that will allow them to gain meaningful employment upon release and to provide a new pipeline of highly skilled professionals for the welding industry. Areas of focus during the...

With the Georgia Department of Labor’s recent announcement of the state’s unemployment rate at 9.7 percent for the month of May, employers and jobseekers alike are finding more creative ways to connect their employment needs during the current COVID-19 health crisis. Local community partners in Newton and Walton counties believe they can help through the first-ever virtual job fair organized by Georgia Piedmont Technical College (GPTC) and set for July 30 from 10 a.m. to 2:00...

Georgia Piedmont Technical College (GPTC) and Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) have announced a new partnership and articulation agreement that provides direct transfer opportunities between the two institutions, in the spirit of academic cooperation. Under the agreement, students from Georgia Piedmont Tech will be able to transfer up to 90 credits and complete their bachelor’s degrees online with SNHU. The goal of the partnership is to make smoother transitions for students from...

                    Georgia Piedmont Technical College students who earn an associate degree in applied sciences through our Interdisciplinary Studies Health Track will now have the option to transfer seamlessly into a bachelor’s in health science at Georgia Highlands College (GHC). The two colleges held a virtual articulation agreement signing ceremony via Zoom on May 5, 2020. GPTC President Tavarez Holston and Executive Vice President Cheree Williams joined GHC President...

Georgia Piedmont Technical College is making it easier and more affordable to apply for admission for this year’s summer and fall semesters, in light of the COVID-19 health crisis. President Tavarez Holston recently announced a waiver of the admissions application fee through May 30. The Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) also announced it is suspending the placement exam requirement for admission to any of its 22 technical colleges across the state, which includes GPTC. In...

A Paralegal Studies program student and mother of five took Georgia Piedmont Technical College’s (GPTC) highest student distinction Jan. 23, while a mathematics instructor in the school’s GED Test preparation division became the first Adult Education teacher in GPTC’s history to be named its top faculty member. GPTC narrowed the field of 28 student nominees and four finalists for the Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership (GOAL) Student of the Year to 2020 winner Mandy Higginbotham...

Georgia Piedmont Technical College (GPTC) announced its 28 student nominees and four finalists for the 2020 Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership (GOAL) Dec. 16. The College will narrow the field Jan. 23 when it reveals the school’s one student who will represent GPTC as the GOAL Student of the Year. Georgia Piedmont Tech’s top four finalists are Early Childhood Care and Education program student Erik Brown, Clinical Laboratory Technology program student Heather Edmisten, Paralegal...

GPTC’s Economic Development Division, Newton County Sheriff's Department and Action Inc. met Nov. 13, 2019, to plan the next cohort of the Newton HIRE program to help inmates regain entry into the workforce. Georgia Piedmont Technical College (GPTC) has enhanced its efforts to strengthen the workforce pipeline for its industry partners in Newton County and to provide a re-entry point for local inmates currently incarcerated at the Newton County Jail. GPTC’s Economic Development...

Mark Engelbracht, president and founder of Omni Machine Works, Inc. in Covington, has a vested interest in seeing students in manufacturing-related programs at Georgia Piedmont Technical College (GPTC) get the best training possible, and on the best equipment. He recently donated a five-ton computer numerical control (CNC) machine to the college to do just that. While having highly-trained machinists for his own company is important to Engelbracht, his relationship with GPTC is also an...

Georgia Piedmont Technical College was honored to be recognized as the 2019 Newton County Employer of the Year by The Covington News and its community selection committee. The announcement was made in early March 2019, and GPTC President Holston and other members of the GPTC administration and faculty were on hand to receive the award at the April 25, 2019, Visions Awards reception. The college and its faculty, staff and administration are truly honored to be named the recipient of this...

Congratulations to our 2019 GPTC Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership, or GOAL, Student of the Year Tina-Kay Rhoden and our 2019 Rick Perkins Instructor of the Year Kelli Owen for being among the best of the best in the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG)! Both were named as Top 9 State Finalists for their respective awards out of the 22 technical colleges’ award representatives during the annual TCSG Summit held in Atlanta April 15-17.