Economic Development News

Clarkston, GA – June 8, 2023 – The Dollar General Literacy Foundation recently awarded Georgia Piedmont Technical College (GPTC) a $7500 grant to support adult literacy.  This local grant is a part of the Foundation’s largest, one-day literacy donation of more than $13 million throughout the 47 states in which Dollar General operates to support adult, family and summer literacy programs. “We are so grateful to the Dollar General Literacy Foundation for its generous contribution to...

For the first time since 2019, students graduating from Georgia Piedmont Technical College were able to walk across a real stage and be recognized by a crowd of supporters and loved ones. The college's commencement ceremony was held Saturday, May 20 at 10:00 a.m. at Springfield Baptist Church in Conyers. Georgia Piedmont Technical College reports 625 students qualified for graduation over the last academic year (summer and fall of 2022 and spring of 2023). The college awarded a total of 883...

Covington, Ga. - It was a perfect spring morning on Wednesday, May 10 as Georgia Piedmont Technical College faculty and staff joined civic and community leaders to break ground on a truck driving range at the college's campus off Bob Williams Parkway in Covington. The facility will be home to a driving range, pad, and trailers. A crowd gathered on an ideal spring day to take part in the ceremonial groundbreaking. "Georgia Piedmont Technical College is here in response to our community's...

Clarkston, Ga. - It was standing room only on April 20, 2023 as graduates, invited guests and loved ones came together to celebrate more than 100 students from Georgia Piedmont Technical College's adult education division. The students worked hard to earn either a high school equivalency or an English as a Second Language (ESL) certification. And in some cases, both! It was a packed house at the recent GPTC adult education graduation ceremony. One of the highlights of the ceremony came...

Georgia Piedmont Technical College has big plans for the future that include being the leading provider of a high-tech workforce in the booming nanotechnology and microchip processing world. GPTC's vision is to create a futuristic, hi-tech, hands-on learning and training facility, aptly named the Center for Innovation and Emerging Technology. While the center is still in the conceptual and planning stages, it is expected to measure around 50,000 square feet and will be equipped with the...

Georgia Piedmont Technical College is teaming up with an international leader in the semiconductor industry, Absolics, which is a subsidiary of South Korea-based SKC, to provide work-ready education and training for residents in and around Metro Atlanta. To build on the importance of providing an educated workforce in these high paying, high demand, hi-tech jobs, GPTC is implementing industry-recognized credentials as well as degrees, diplomas, and technical certificates of credit that will...

For the second consecutive semester, Georgia Piedmont Technical College is boasting a major growth in its enrollment. Reports from the Technical College System of Georgia show Georgia Piedmont with an enrollment growth of nearly seven percent compared to the end of spring semester 2022; Georgia Piedmont has the sixth highest such measurement in the TCSG. The enrollment at GPTC currently stands at 2,526 (a 10 percent increase from this time last year) and will likely go even higher since the...

When former Georgia Piedmont student Junita Burr passed away in 2018, her opticianry program faculty resolved to make sure her memory lived on. Now, a scholarship has been set up in Junita's honor and the first recipient proudly accepted the award on January 25. Opticianry student Lorena Zoi, who was also a nominee for GPTC's student of the year, shared the spotlight with the Burr family, fellow students, and GPTC faculty and staff at the $200 scholarship presentation. As a surprise for the...

The latest graduating class of GPTC's certified nurse aide program have several reasons to be extra proud this New Year. Not only did the class of seven all complete their studies during an intense 8-week long program, but four did so while working on high school equivalency credentials and three were studying English as a Second Language. As if that wasn't enough, each student successfully passed their licensure exam, officially making them Certified Nurse Aides or C.N.As. Dec. 2, 2022 -...

    For dual enrollment student, Jayden Slaughter, 17, being tasked to build a smoker alongside his fellow students was both exciting — and daunting. “At first I was very nervous,” Slaughter said, “because I had only done one project before , and since this was a big project, I felt the pressure.” Fortunately for Slaughter, he did not have to accomplish this monumental feat alone. Joined by two other dual enrollment students: Brian Johnson, 16, and Richard Bennett, 17 and...

Recruits and instructors with the Law Enforcement Academy at Georgia Piedmont Technical College have new, potentially life-saving training equipment in their arsenal. The nearly $163,000 virtual shoot house simulator is now in place at the Law Enforcement Academy at GPTC’s Newton campus in Covington. Funds for the 180-degree simulator from Ti Training were secured through a federal grant from the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council. According to the grant application, “the four-room...

CLARKSTON, GA - November 14, 2022 Faculty and staff of Georgia Piedmont Technical College were treated to an extra dose of generosity at their annual Grateful Gathering holiday event and meeting this past Friday. Seven hundred and 20 thousand doses, to be exact. Amazon, the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners (on behalf of commissioner Mereda Davis-Johnson) and the City of Stonecrest each presented giant checks to the college’s Foundation which will manage and distribute the funds for...