Gov. Nathan Deal Brings High Demand Career Initiative to Georgia Southern

May 14, 2014

 

Georgia Southern University President Brooks Keel, Ph.D., hosted Gov. Nathan Deal and other officials in Statesboro during Tuesday afternoon’s “High Demand Career Initiative (HDCI): Preparing Georgia’s Workforce Today” tour, coordinated by the Georgia Department of Economic Development’s Workforce Division. HDCI, developed in response to the need for a consistent, trained and reliable workforce on a national and global level, makes it possible for those involved in training Georgia’s future workforce – the University System of Georgia (USG) and the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) – to hear directly from the private sector about what specific needs they have from a workforce perspective, including degree programs, majors, certificates and courses. In a roundtable-style discussion, various companies presented an overview of their business models and needs, and then officials were given the opportunity to ask questions. “Education should lead to employability,” said Deal. “We’ve put a great focus on changing that perspective and emphasizing that dynamic. We have done such things as ask our leaders to examine the fields of study and look at the employability rate of those who receive degrees in their field of study. They’re doing that and I commend them for those efforts,” said Deal. During the statewide meeting, Gov. Deal was joined by University System of Georgia Chancellor Hank Huckaby, Georgia Department of Economic Development Commissioner Chris Carr and Technical College System of Georgia Commissioner Ron Jackson. President Keel provided welcome remarks. “Georgia Southern University brings together education, research and industry in ways that benefit the state of Georgia and indeed our nation,” said Keel.  “We believe that Georgia Southern is uniquely positioned to influence worker readiness by not only teaching the theory of the discipline but also by exposing students to the practical aspects of applying the theory to real world and work situations. We’re excited about industry involvement and firmly believe that such close collaborations between higher education and industry will be key in providing a well-educated and trained workforce in the future.” Companies represented included Firth Rixson, Gulfstream, Briggs & Stratton, Crider Foods, Rayonier, Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems and Great Dane. In addition to the HDCI Tour, Gov. Deal also announced Tuesday that architectural glass fabricator Viracon is expanding to add 125 jobs at its Statesboro factory. “Those are the kind of job announcements that keep us growing in our state and will help us maintain that number one ranking as the best state in the country in which to do business,” said Deal.