SAVANNAH, Ga. – AT&T announced this week, that Savannah Technical College Foundation won a total of $15,000 for third place in of the inaugural $20k for 2020 workforce development competition. Savannah Technical College Foundation competed with six other organizations from across the state to generate social media activity in support of their work in the community.

“All of the organizations who were competing in AT&T’s $20k for 2020 competition are true assets in their communities, doing the vital work to identify and address the needs of our workforce here in Georgia,” said Bill Leahy, president of AT&T Georgia. “The response from the communities associated with this competition makes it clear that the skills that these organizations are developing in Georgians all across the state are invaluable.”

Savannah Technical College’s contest entry featured a two-minute video about the City of Savannah’s Summer 500 program. During the nine-week Summer 500 program, participating students invested at least 32 hours per week, split between direct work experiences (Monday-Thursday) with their mentoring employer. Fridays were reserved for leadership development, career pathway training and mentoring at Savannah Technical College.  Summer 500 students, who have attended classes STC on Fridays, will earn both high school and college credit for Interpersonal Relations and Professional Development (EMPL 1000) through Move On When Ready.

“The business community has long been a strong partner of workforce development initiatives in the state, and it is encouraging and exciting to see this kind of creative approach by AT&T to highlight the hard work being done by educators and students across Georgia. Hard work that is keeping Georgia attractive to employers who are bringing quality careers to the Peach State,” said State Senator Butch Miller.

With the state’s recent ranking as the number one state in which to do business, AT&T’s $20k for 2020 competition is designed to highlight organizations that are engaged in education and workforce development efforts around Georgia. In this, the first year of the competition, organizations from communities across the state were recognized for their work to engage business, community and educational leaders to address local workforce needs and further position Georgia as the best place to do business in the country.

Lanier Technical College and Dekalb Workforce Development finished first and second respectively in the final tally. The other remaining organizations that competed for the $20k for 2020 prize were:

• Albany Technical College
• Chattahoochee Technical College – Veterans Center
• Communities in Schools – Augusta/Richmond County
• Middle Georgia Regional Commission

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#1706 | July 29, 2016

STC Director of Communications/Media Contact: Amy Shaffer, APR
912.443.5512 or ashaffer@savannahtech.edu

SAVANNAH, Ga. – Savannah Technical College is proud to offer college classes for the City of Savannah’s Summer 500 program. To showcase the program, the College created a Summer 500 video featuring student interns and speakers from the kickoff event in May.

This video was posted as a tweet in a Twitter contest this week for workforce development sponsored by AT&T. The College is competing against seven other organizations across the state that are focused on workforce development, vying for the grand prize in AT&T Georgia’s $20k for 2020 competition for the Twitter contest. Designed to highlight the efforts of workforce development organizations in urban and rural communities across the state that are preparing Georgians for the demands of the 2020 workforce, the $20k for 2020 campaign encourages the eight finalists to further engage their communities – through twitter and other social media activities.

Starting on July 18 and ending at 5 p.m. on July 22, Savannah Technical College pushed out a single “tweet” on Twitter (bit.lySavTEchSummer500RT). This “tweet” includes the two-minute video debuting the City of Savannah’s Summer 500 program launch this summer.

To watch the video and vote for Savannah Technical College, please visit: www.savannahtech.edu/Summer500 for the simple steps or the Twitter link directly: bit.lySavTechSummer500RT. Only retweets of the original tweet from July 18 will count with the contest total.

During the nine-week Summer 500 program, participating students will invest at least 32 hours per week, split between direct work experiences (Monday-Thursday) with their mentoring employer. Fridays are reserved for leadership development, career pathway training and mentoring at Savannah Technical College.  Summer 500 students, who have attended classes STC on Fridays, will earn both high school and college credit for Interpersonal Relations and Professional Development (EMPL 1000) through Move On When Ready.

“Savannah Technical College is a great resource for workforce development in our area, and it was a perfect partnership to team up with for the Summer 500!” said Savannah Mayor Eddie DeLoach.

The College has expanded the traditional EMPL 1000 curriculum for this Friday class to include guest speakers, interactive group activities and more. It emphasizes human relations and professional development in today’s rapidly changing world that prepares students for living and working in a complex society. Topics include human relations skills, job acquisition skills and communication, job retention skills, job advancement skills and professional image skills.

AT&T recently identified Savannah Technical College’s role with the City of Savanah’s Summer 500 program, as a key contributor in the effort to improving Georgia’s already great workforce. The College’s engagement of business, community and educational leaders is helping to address local workforce needs and further position Georgia as the best place to do business in the country.

Eight other colleges and organizations in Georgia were also awarded $12,000. These finalists are competing in the Twitter contest with a two-minute video telling the story of their community and why the work they are doing is preparing people in the community for the demands of the 21st century.

With the state’s recent ranking as the number one state to do business, AT&T is working to help support and amplify organizations that are engaged in education and workforce development efforts around Georgia.

Cash rewards for the contest are $8,000 for first place, $5,000 for second and $3,000 for third. Awards are based on the number of tweets generated.

About AT&T

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) helps millions around the globe connect with leading entertainment, mobile, high speed Internet and voice services. We’re the world’s largest provider of pay TV. We have TV customers in the U.S. and 11 Latin American countries. We offer the best global coverage of any U.S. wireless provider*. And we help businesses worldwide serve their customers better with our mobility and highly secure cloud solutions. Additional information about AT&T products and services is available at http://about.att.com.

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#1704 | July 18, 2016

STC Director of Communications/Media Contact: Amy Shaffer, APR
912.443.5512 or ashaffer@savannahtech.edu

SAVANNAH, Ga. – Kimberly NeSmith, a master cosmetologist graduate from Savannah Technical College, won silver in the Employment Application Process competition at the 52^nd annual SkillsUSA 2016 national competition in Louisville, Kent. The Employment Application Process competition included scoring for application completion, a portfolio review and an interview.

NeSmith won gold at the Georgia state competition in the spring to be eligible to compete at the national level for post-secondary students. In 2015, she won silver in Georgia for the same competition. She is a stylist at Color Me Crazy! salon in Savannah, Ga.

STC’s cosmetology program emphasizes not only specialized training in the field of cosmetology, but also interpersonal relations development, employability skills and work ethics. The curriculum meets state licensing requirements of the State Board of Cosmetology. Once program graduates receive a Cosmetology diploma and pass their board exams, they are eligible to work as a hair stylist, nail technician, makeup artist, or skin care specialist.

At the 2016 state competition in Atlanta earlier this year, Peter Vega won gold for mobile electronics installation and an entrepreneurship team won gold with Darryl McCray, Ocie Barrett, Aria Jones and Vincent Thomas. Students also won silver at the state competition: Charles Carter (Industrial Motor Controls), Megan Brannen (Nurse Assisting), Joni Poppell (Practical Nursing), Daphane James (Medical Math). Students winning bronze at the state competition were Travis Sheffield (Medical Math), Reginald Lupo (Automotive Service Technology) and the Quiz Bowl Team: Taylor Leiviska, Brandi Beard, Jordan Turner, Ramon Gonzalez, Kyle Koskela and Jacob White.

About SkillsUSA
SkillsUSA is a career and technical student organization that annually serves more than 320,000 high school, college and postsecondary students–and their instructors–in technical, skilled and service-occupation instructional programs. SkillsUSA is a national, nonprofit student organization that has developed more than 10 million workers through active partnerships between employers and educators. Hundreds of American industries have turned to SkillsUSA as the source for employees who exemplify “Champions at Work” in both skills and attitudes. SkillsUSA’s mission is to empower its members to become world-class workers, leaders and responsible American citizens. At the heart of this mission are SkillsUSA’s core values: integrity, responsibility, citizenship, service and respect.

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#1703 | July 15, 2016
Contact: Amy Shaffer, APR, STC Director of Communications
912.443.5512 or ashaffer@savannahtech.edu

SAVANNAH, Ga. – Savannah Technical College has selected John Grace as its technical film instructor. In this role, Grace is responsible for oversight of all instruction, curriculum development, administrative and budgetary aspects for the College’s on-site film production assistant program with the Georgia Film Academy.

Grace has more than 25 years of experience in film production with nearly two decades working as a film and media educator. He co-founded the SouthWest Institute of Film and Television in 1997. Selected credits include: Better Call Saul; Whisky, Tango Foxtrot; Breaking Bad; The Space Between Us; Independence Day – Resurgence; Longmire; and many more.

He attended the University of Denver and University of New Mexico. He also has participated in and led multiple workshops and seminars.

The projected film industry growth in Georgia during the next three to five years will generate 3,000 to 5,000 new jobs, and the average earnings for jobs on set are $84,000 a year.  That’s why Georgia has launched the Georgia Film Academy, a unique-in-the-nation, statewide initiative to prepare Georgia citizens for these high demand careers. For more information visit: www.savannahtech.edu/GA-Film.

About the Georgia Film Academy
The Georgia Film Academy is a collaborative effort of the University System of Georgia and Technical College System of Georgia supporting workforce needs of the film and digital entertainment industries. The academy certifies workforce ready employees in needed areas, connect students and prospective employees with employers, and offer a unique capstone experience for top students that will provide them a path to employment in Georgia. Special partnerships include Pinewood Studios located in Fayetteville, Georgia. 

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#1702 | July 8, 2016

Georgia Film Academy Academic Advisor: Secene Dorsey
912.443.5859 or ssdorsey@savannahtech.edu

STC Director of Communications/Media Contact: Amy Shaffer, APR
ashaffer@savannahtech.edu