SAVANNAH (July 21, 2015) | Sen. Josh McKoon (R – Columbus), Corinne Hodges (Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia) and Dr. Kathy Carlisle (THINC) presented the newly developed THINC Academy as part of the Innovative Postsecondary Education Delivery Policy Discussion during the Opening Day of the 2015 Southern Legislative Conference (SLC).
THINC Academy is a partnership between Troup County Schools, West Georgia Technical College, and Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia (KMMG) among other corporate and private donors leveraging primarily private funds to create a college and career academy to serve students in Troup County.
“It is a great thing for Troup County that the THINC College and Career Academy will be opening its doors in a matter of weeks,” said Sen. McKoon. “This partnership between the school system and business community helps drive Georgia’s economic success. Georgia is and will continue to be a great state to do business because of college and career academies like THINC and its outstanding business partners like Kia.”
“Workforce is key to the success of our company and to this region,” said Hodges, Sr. Manager Public Relations for Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia. “That’s why KMMG has elevated education to the top of our corporate social responsibility strategy and why we invested $3 million in THINC College and Career Academy.”
“The goal of our college and career academy is to connect every student with an employer in their career pathway while that student is learning their craft,” said Dr. Carlisle, CEO of THINC College & Career Academy. “When a student can connect with an employer then that employer verifies the student’s abilities and begins to invest in the student’s future, lives are changed.”
“The launch of a new college and career academy is incredibly exciting,” said Dr. Barbara Prosser, CEO at Effingham College & Career Academy, which opened in in 2010. “The flexibility of the charter school system allows the entire community to come together to best serve its students passions and surrounding businesses’ needs.”
The career pathways offered by THINC were determined based on the needs of businesses in the region, including manufacturing, architecture, healthcare and engineering. THINC Academy offers employers a 90 day guarantee saying that if a recent hire from THINC Academy does not meet a company’s workplace and performance standards in the first 90 days of employment, THINC Academy will retrain that graduate.
The official ribbon cutting for THINC Academy is July 30, 2015. THINC is one of more than thirty college and career academies in Georgia. For more information about THINC Academy, visit thincacademy.net.
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For Immediate Release:
July 21, 2015
For Information Contact:
Jennifer Yarber, Director
Brett Johnson, Broadcast Specialist
Brett.Johnson@senate.ga.gov
404.656.0028