James_Nov-Dec_2025_web - Flipbook - Page 55
arlier this year, Ford
Motor Company CEO
Jim Farley addressed
attendees at the
inaugural Ford Pro
Accelerate conference
in Detroit. The subject of his keynote speech was “the
essential economy”— the critically
important work in construction,
agriculture, skilled trades, transportation, energy and manufacturing
that serves as the backbone of the
U.S. workforce.
His tone was apprehensive.
“The problems with the essential
economy are problems for all of us.
What happened to the essential
economy? We outsourced a lot of
skills and jobs. We stopped investing in the trades. If Henry Ford saw
what has become of us, I think he’d
be kind of mad.”
“When my team and I travel
to places like Germany, China and
Korea, we see that we’re pretty far
behind,” Farley continued. “They
get it. What they do is invest. If anything comes out of today, it’s this:
We need to figure out how to invest
in the people who build things.”
But Farley and his team, entrenched in Michigan as one of the
“Big Three” American automakers,
don’t need to look abroad to find a
place where the essential economy
has received meaningful investment
and is producing tangible results.
Instead, they should have just made
the trip to the Peach State, where
Georgia’s technical college system
is breaking records and powering
industries hungry for skilled talent.
TC S G BY T H E N U M BE R S
Some figures that might shock
the Ford CEO:
The Technical College System
of Georgia (TCSG) is made up of 22
colleges across 88 campuses spanning the state. Last year a total of
148,746 Georgia students enrolled
in technical schools, a 9.3 percent increase over the previous year. That
eye-popping total coincided with
TCSG’s largest-ever graduating
class, with 40,451 graduates. They
went on to a 92 percent in-field job
placement rate.
Initiatives like the HOPE Career
Grant provide tuition for students
going into specific in-demand fields,
directing the workforce pipeline
straight into jobs and industries
that are needed the most. Georgia Match, rolled out in 2023, is a
direct admission program that tells
students what schools they can get
into as soon as they apply. It has
resulted in a 26 percent increase in
applications; another way Georgia
is helping steer students into opportunities and careers they may not
have even known existed.
TCSG Executive Director Mark
D’Alessio told James that one of
the system’s greatest strengths is
its flexibility and ability to react to
market changes.
“TCSG works closely with state
agencies, industry partners, and the
Governor’s office to identify high-demand industries and emerging career fields. We rely on labor market
data from the Georgia Department
of Labor and insights from employers across the state. Each year, we
review the High Demand Career
List to ensure that our programs
align with Georgia’s economic and
workforce needs.
When we see new opportunities— such as the rapid growth in
electric mobility, advanced manufacturing, cybersecurity, or healthcare— we move quickly to develop
programs and update curriculum to
meet emerging needs. Our colleges
have the flexibility to pilot new
programs that respond to regional
needs, and once proven successful, those programs can be scaled
statewide.”
“ TO P STAT E FO R TALENT ”
State leaders, headlined by Gov.
Brian Kemp, have made Georgia’s
technical college system a priority
in recent years.
During last year’s legislative
session, lawmakers passed the
Kemp-backed House Bill 192, the
Top State for Talent Act. The bill
established an official high demand
career list, as well as aligning talent
development all along the education pipeline— from high schools
into technical colleges, to universities and eventually straight into the
workforce. And it didn’t take long
for that effort to pay dividends.
Only months after Kemp signed
HB 192 into law, TCSG and the
University System of Georgia (USG)
signed an articulation agreement
that allows nursing students who
finish a two-year associate’s degree
to transfer directly into participating
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