CLARKSTON, GA — Community and industry partner Radius Recycling presented the Georgia Piedmont Technical College Foundation with a $15,000 gift with the monies earmarked for the school’s future Regional Transportation Training Center (RTTC) in Stonecrest. To extend appreciation for their generosity, a conference room at the future center will be bear the Radius Recyling name. The RTTC is located less than a half a mile from the Radius Recycling operation and, as such, presents a win-win scenario for workforce training, education and collaboration. Chip Koplin is the manager of government and public affairs for Radius. He hopes the relationship the two organizations forged in 2022 will continue to grow and prosper for years to come.
“GPTC holds great importance for Radius, as we believe it plays a pivotal role in the development of the Stonecrest/Lithonia community,” Koplin said. “We strongly support technical education and are delighted to witness students transitioning directly from high school into these programs, quickly securing rewarding employment opportunities.”
While Georgia Piedmont offers dozens of programs that may appeal to a recycling manufacturing company like Radius, Koplin says the organization is particularly impressed by the college’s welding program, adding that its their hope to recruit some of the graduates in the future.
“The faculty of the program took the initiative to visit our facility and familiarize themselves with the highly specialized welding tasks that our work involves,” Koplin said.
“Seeing our community partners contribute to this project in such a big way is even more validation that we’re making a wise investment in Georgia’s booming transportation and logistics industries,” said GPTC President Dr. Tavarez Holston. “This kind of teamwork will pay dividends for years to come.”
Renovation and construction of the existing Regional Transportation Training Center is in the early stages and should be completed in fall of 2024. Once open, the RTTC will be the largest training center of its kind in the Southeastern United States.