Driving our Economy Forward: Chattanooga State, Kimball campus
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — Signing days are common in the sports world. But what about when you a sign a contract for a new job?
Isn’t that also a reason to celebrate? Our friends at Chattanooga State certainly think so. With help from business leaders in Marion County, they’re driving our economy forward.
Their big focus is to make sure that they are providing all the on-ramps and opportunities for students, as one institution.
“We are having an advisory committee meeting for the Kimball campus of Chattanooga State,” said Dr. Rebecca Ashford.
Randy Bass is the director of engineering for the Lodge. David Gamble is the plant engineer at Shaw Industries. And Michelle is the school counselor for Whitwell High School.
“What’s so exciting about this meeting today is we had not only folks from the college, faculty and staff who are connected to Kimball, but also we had people from major employers in the Marion County and the entire Sequatchie Valley,” Ashford said.
“A couple of years ago we worked with Bobby about developing a welding course. And… it was nice to know that it wasn’t “here is our welding class that they can come take.” It was, “well what do you need? What do you want them to learn?”” said Bass.
“Well it is great to be in the room… I’m not a Marion county resident. But, you know, to see everybody in the community want to see you all develop, and develop your community and care about it; it’s contagious,” said another attendee.
“Colonial Chemical was here. And Valmont Industries. We had Lodge and several others. We’re here so that we can update them on what’s happening at the college, but also so we could hear from them and get feedback from them,” Ashford explained.
“We are thrilled to have the first apprenticeship signing day at Colonial Chemical. It’s a joint venture that we had with Chattanooga State,” said Andrew Lawrence. “We’ve been able to bring in six individuals. Two of those have already graduated the program. We’ve got four other ones that are working 24 hours a week at our facility and then also going to class 16 hours a week. It definitely is helping us as far as building our workforce and our employee base. It’s giving us a pipeline that we can actually have new employees that are coming in on a regular basis.”
“One of our main functions and purposes at Chattanooga State is not only to educate students and to prepare them for the workforce, but also to help employers have the workforce they need for now and for the future,” Ashford concluded. “So, this is why this meeting today was so important.”
