Economic Development News

As part of its relationship with Georgia Tech, Georgia Piedmont Technical College has been named one of 21 winners of President Biden’s $1 billion Build Back Better Regional Challenge. The BBBRC has been called the most impactful regional economic development competition in decades. Its aim is to boost economic recovery in the wake of the pandemic with a focus on communities suffering from decades of disinvestment. Georgia Piedmont will partner with the Georgia Tech Research Corporation in...

CLARKSTON, GA, September 13, 2022     —           Georgia Piedmont Technical College is experiencing an encouraging trend when it comes to enrollment. At the time of this writing, just over 2,800 students have registered for fall 2022 classes; this compares to less than 2,500 at this time last year. Georgia Piedmont’s fall enrollment increase is about 12 percent (300-plus students). High schoolers represent a large part of this pool with more than 900 high school students...

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Georgia Piedmont Technical College is always touting its graduates gaining invaluable skills through hands-on quality education. But in the case of 43-year-old paramedicine student Austin Mayes of Covington, having those skills may have saved someone's life. In late July, police responded to a double shooting at a gas station in DeKalb County; Mayes was on an ambulance ride-along (a required part of his curriculum) when they got the call. July 26, 2022-(picture from fox5atlanta.com)...

CLARKSTON, GA, June 23, 2022 Georgia Piedmont Technical College’s Michelle Tiller of Stonecrest is being pulled in many different directions this week…and she loves it. “I just like winning. It’s fun to compete and show a mastery of a skill I’ve picked up,” Tiller said. Tiller is competing on a national level for two different college-level academic and professional development events in two different cities. The 46-year-old Stonecrest resident is the state winner in the...

June 3, 2022, CLARKSTON, GA - For eight years running, Georgia has been named the number one state in the nation in which to do business. But with that accolade comes a persistent challenge – serving the increasingly diverse Peach State population. Between 10 and 11 percent of Georgians – about one million people - are foreign-born. In the Atlanta area, that number is closer to 14 percent. Pathways to higher education and employment for these individuals are rife with roadblocks and...

On Saturday, May 14, Georgia Piedmont Technical College celebrated a special group of students in grand fashion. A drive-thru graduation ceremony was held at the Clarkston campus for students who completed their studies over the last academic year (Summer 2021, Fall 2021, or Spring 2022). Balloons, banners, and signs donned the parking lot area around the DeKalb Conference Center as loved ones, faculty and staff cheered on the graduates. Cars were decorated and graduates had their pictures...

Students from Georgia Piedmont Technical College's Adult Education program were the stars of the show at their commencement ceremony on April 21. The more than 50 students were joined by a packed house of family, friends, and other supporters at the DeKalb Conference Center on the GPTC campus. Thirty-eight students earned their high school equivalency while another 13 completed their English as a Second Language (ESL) studies. Adult Ed graduates sending love to their supporters The...

April 25, 2022     CLARKSTON, GA -   Federal, state, and local governmental agencies are financially empowering the development and training of the area’s logistics and transportation workforce. The renovation and construction of Georgia Piedmont Technical College’s Regional Transportation Training Center (RTTC) in Lithonia comes with an estimated $11.9M price tag but thanks to a local congressman, the State of Georgia and DeKalb county, most of the project is already paid for. In...

Twenty-year-old Georgia Piedmont Technical College welding student Eddie Beasley of Lithonia looks like any other college student. He has an easy smile, a laid-back attitude, and a good group of friends. It’s not until you see him signing back and forth with his peers and GPTC interpreters that you realize something is a little different. Eddie has been deaf since birth and in order for him to understand what’s going on in class and in his college environment, he and the other half dozen...

Clarkston, GA - March 18, 2022 - The DeKalb Conference Center at Georgia Piedmont Technical College in Clarkston set the scene Thursday for a major nationally-recognized celebration. The Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service in Community Policing ceremony was highlighted by remarks from the nation’s top law enforcement official, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland. Also on hand were Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia...

DeKalb County, GA - Georgia Piedmont Technical College Adult Education instructor Sean Denmark has been described as bringing an innovative and relatable presence to his English as a Second Language (ESL) classroom. Denmark uses visual examples and logical descriptions to explain what could be complicated concepts for his students. And now that innovation is being recognized at the state level. Denmark was recently named one of four finalists in the statewide Adult Education Teacher of the...