As thousands line up on the campus for CBC job fair, college proves that proper training is key

Aug. 20, 2011 - PRLog -- Atlanta, GA – August 19, 2011 – Yesterday, Atlanta Technical College partnered with Congressman John Lewis, Congressman Hank Johnson, and ten members of the Congressional Black Caucus to host the For the People job fair and town hall meeting.  More than 5,000 job seekers traveled to the Atlanta Technical College campus in southwest Atlanta, some from as far away as Alabama, to seek employment.

“We hosted the For the People job fair because it was the right thing to do,” stated Alvetta Peterman Thomas, president of Atlanta Technical College.  “Our mission is workforce development, and every day we work to improve the nation’s economy by ensuring that jobseekers have the skills and aptitude needed for high-wage, high-skilled jobs.”  

Even in a down economy, post-secondary institutions like Atlanta Technical College have proven that proper workforce training and education improve employability.  “There is a great demand for qualified workers in industries such as healthcare, early childhood education, computer technology, and supply chain management,” said Thomas.  “But, these fields require the right set of skills.  Jobseekers should look to institutions like Atlanta Technical College to retool for today’s economy.”  

Atlanta Technical College has been nationally recognized for excellence in education and was named the nation’s best community college by Washington Monthly Magazine in 2007.  The college integrates academic and hands-on career preparation to meet workforce demands.  Administrators and faculty have an established record of collaborating with business leaders to ensure that courses are cutting-edge. As a result, Atlanta Tech graduates are highly successful.  The most recent graduating class witnessed a 95 percent job placement rate while the rest of the country experienced record unemployment.
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Yesterday’s successful job fair demonstrated that companies are hiring,” said Thomas.  “The key for finding success in the crowded marketplace is ensuring that you have the right set of skills.  Leading corporations like Coca-Cola, UPS, Sprint, General Electric, and Georgia Power were among the 90 companies involved in the job fair on our campus yesterday.  The employers that I met with confirmed what we have been telling our students and community all along: today’s employers need workers with the caliber of training provided at Atlanta Technical College and the colleges of the Technical College System of Georgia.”