Economic Development News

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...

Covington, GA - After a special signing ceremony at its Newton campus recently, Georgia Piedmont Technical College is now proud to welcome ten new students into its academic fold. These particular students are apprentices in a U.S. Department of Labor registered apprenticeship program. The program focus is industrial maintenance and has been customized to align with the workforce needs of participating companies. Industries in DeKalb, Newton, and Rockdale counties partnered with GPTC’s...

Georgia Piedmont announced the winners of its GOAL (Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership) Student of the Year and RPA (Rick Perkins Award) Instructor of the Year on January 21 via a pre-recorded video. GPTC Air-Conditioning Technology Student and Early Childhood Education Instructor Earn Student & Teacher of the Year Accolades   Georgia Piedmont Technical College has announced its winners for the 2022 student and instructor of the year. Twenty-five-year-old GOAL (Georgia Occupational...

Georgia Piedmont Technical College has been named a big winner in the latest distribution of the Georgia Emergency Education Relief Fund (GEER II) aimed at rebuilding our economy and educational excellence amidst the COVID pandemic. Two million dollars is earmarked to help fund GPTC's commercial truck driving program in Newton County. The money will go toward a driving range and pad, and trailers. For details on GEER and the funds being allocated, visit the governor's webpage.

A custom-made grill/smoker and trailer -designed and built by students- took center stage at a cook-out at Georgia Piedmont Technical College’s Newton campus. Faculty and staff fired up the new grill on Monday, December 6 at the Building D/Conference Center in Covington. Besides being built entirely by GPTC students and faculty, the materials needed were donated by a Newton-based small business owner. The project started with an idea and then a conversation.  “This...

Twenty-nine-year-old Shay Sheha immigrated to Georgia from Zanzibar two years ago and has already made a huge impression. So much so that he has been named the 2022 EAGLE (Exceptional Adult Georgian in Literacy Education) winner for Georgia Piedmont Technical College. He will head to Atlanta this March to compete against winners from other schools in the Technical College System of Georgia. The statewide winner will be an advocate for Georgia, touting the many benefits of adult education...

Georgia Piedmont Technical College as one of the top 10 institutions in the state for students to earn their associate degrees. The ranking comes from online evaluator, University HQ; Methodology used includes data collected from various government and non-government related sources like NCES (National Center for Education Statistics), The U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Payscale.com.  University HQ looks at each college's graduation...