FaceOff: Ivan Allen and Tavarez Holston on training Atlanta’s workforce

FaceOff: Ivan Allen and Tavarez Holston on training Atlanta’s workforce

2023-05-11T11:20:32-04:00May 11th, 2023|Atlanta, Education|

Writer: Gabriela Enamorado

3 min read May 2023 Not everyone needs to go to a four-year university to achieve success in the workplace. Increasingly, people are seeing the value of technical colleges as a more affordable option to get prepared to enter the workforce quicker. 

Focus: took a deeper dive into the Atlanta region’s technical colleges, speaking to Ivan Allen, president of Central Georgia Technical College, and Tavarez Holston, president of Georgia Piedmont Technical College, about developing programs to meet new needs, the challenges they have faced and where they see their respective schools going in the next few years. 

How is the college working to ensure appropriate and necessary workforce development?

Ivan Allen: We are committed to the mission of building a qualified workforce. We are focused on growth in areas like logistics, so we offer programs related to commercial truck driving and diesel mechanics as well as Logistics Management. We are committed to strengthening Georgia’s  infrastructure and we have also focused a great deal of attention on healthcare. Healthcare represents our largest student segment and we are very proud of the growth in the healthcare area in our region with partners like Atrium Navicent Health, Houston Healthcare and Piedmont Hospitals. Georgia is also a big aviation state. Robins AFB is a multibillion-dollar asset that needs our attention. Robins is a huge component of supporting air power in the nation. Our college does a great deal in terms of blue and white-collar training for Robins. Not only do we educate and train a skilled workforce to help support them through programs like electronics and aviation maintenance, but we also conduct contract training for new employees and industry-specific training for RAFB incumbent workers. We offer specialty training on electronic panels in certain aircraft and the structure of aircraft through our economic development arm. 

We are a two-year technical college, and our specific mission is to support, serve and grow a qualified workforce. Aside from Robins AFB, we have a number of other aviation partners in the area. Companies like Embraer, Delta and others support our institution. Specifically, Delta provides support to multiple training programs, including electronics, precision machining and aviation maintenance, through the Delta Tech Ops program. Across the spectrum, we have invested a great deal of time and effort  into aviation, healthcare and logistics programming as well as many other high-demand career fields. This speaks to where we are headed in our economy in Georgia. We are seeing many investments in electric vehicles and robotics. Our college is part of a grant-funded partnership with Georgia Tech. This partnership exists to try to grow workforce capacity in AI and robotics. What makes Georgia special is that in this instance, you are seeing a huge research university partner with a two-year institution to solidify a workforce in this industry. At all levels, Georgia is demonstrating its commitment to a qualified workforce.

Tavarez Holston: I have been in technical education for over 20 years now and I haven’t seen a time like this, with tech-ed seeing such overwhelming demand. A lot of our business partners are looking for skilled trades and there is a high level of engagement in both the public and private arenas. To speak of the college more specifically, we are seeing significant investment in programs, infrastructure and capital projects. We are also deeply involved in emerging technologies and have partnerships with great schools like Georgia Tech Institute. We also have partnerships with R1 universities like Penn State to develop semiconductor manufacturing and nanotechnology programs, which is especially important given the national chip shortage. There is also a healthcare worker shortage, so we are expanding those programs as well. What is happening at the college is reflective of what is happening at the macro and state level. 

About 95% of our students get jobs upon graduation and there are very few students who have debt when they leave because with a two-year degree these graduates can get into semiconductor jobs, for example, and make about $82,000 a year on average without any experience. Even truck drivers, with just eight weeks of training, can make $70,000 a year. This is the impact that we are having.

What are some of the challenges you have faced?

Allen: Some specific challenges are related to hiring qualified faculty, which can be tough. We have awesome faculty who take care of our students but finding qualified faculty who are willing to dedicate their lives to training others can be a challenge. We also cannot deny that wage pressure exists and there are challenges on the supply chain front. We have tried to move forward and grow as an organization with projects that have ended up being slowed down by these challenges. These are real issues we need to overcome to continue to provide quality service and a good product to our students and community. In terms of dealing with students, we have a very affordable rate. Our tuition is $100 per credit hour. Our fees are manageable and some of the lowest in the marketplace, so when you look at the total package, the return on investment can be great for a student. Given their investment in education, to be able to graduate seven weeks later as a truck driver making six figures is amazing. Students can flip the script on generational poverty. Technical education is an incredible journey our students can take. That short-term training we offer gets people turned around and on track quickly with a career in our economy. 

Holston: One of our greatest challenges as a technical college is that we hire practitioners, not teachers, because we want someone who has been in the industry. For example, if I am going to hire an engineer, it is going to be someone who has hands-on experience. Similarly, when we hire for the paramedic program, we hire emergency medical technicians. There is competition among the colleges and industries for the same talent pool. You can buy things and replace them but you cannot replace people. As a result, we feel the labor shortage just as much as any other business. However, being a public education institution, we cannot compete with the money that is present in the private industry because that’s just not how education in the United States is set up.

What is your outlook or priority for the next few years? 

Allen: Georgia is a thriving state but a great threat is generational poverty. At the root of many of our problems is the economic divide. There is a feeling many experience that they will never be able to get ahead. How do we connect people to the engine and show them a clear pathway to success? They don’t have to dream about health insurance or buying a house or car. Our job is to spread the truth about opportunities for career, education and training. Truth pairs perfectly with hope. We must refuse to leave a generation of Georgians without hope. We can’t leave people feeling disconnected. What is important is the convergence of education, healthcare and opportunity in the workforce. These are the realities of connecting people to good care, education and a career.

Holston: I have never been more excited about our future here and I say this quite genuinely because we are seeing so much support and momentum that has been building up over the past few years to such an extent that we are discussing how to manage these opportunities. There really are so many opportunities offered that we will be forced to be more selective and strategic. We must pick our lanes. That is where we are at right now. That’s why, with such a bright outlook, we want to ensure that we are laser-focused on workforce generation and improvement. We want to make sure that our activities and programs are in line with our mission, the job market and the counties that we serve. I have been doing this for 20 years and I have never seen anything like this, nor have I been this excited. We will lean more into what tech-ed looks like for us and specifically for institutions that offer two-year programs. 

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