OTC is Recipient of
Manufacturing Camp Grant

John Ratzenberger

Ogeechee Technical College in Statesboro is the recipient of one of only 20 grants awarded nation wide for a Manufacturing Camp offered through a cooperative effort of the FMA (Fabricators and Manufacturers Association) Foundation and television personality John Ratzenberger, who stars on the show Made In America, and his Nuts, Bolts, and Thingamajigs Foundation.  The grant will allow Ogeechee Tech to offer a camp during June to demonstrate the potential for good careers in manufacturing to rising 9th graders in Bulloch, Evans, and Screven Counties.  There will be a process to determine which students get to attend the camp.  “We will only be able to take 20 to 24 students our first year,” stated Colbert Lovett, Grants Coordinator for OTC.  “But hopefully this first camp will be an incentive for local manufacturers to support us in offering the camp to even more students in future years,” he further commented.

In Georgia, technical colleges in Rome, Griffin, and Dublin joined Ogeechee Tech in the select group of colleges through out the nation to be afforded this opportunity.  “We are very excited about the chance to offer this exciting exposure to manufacturing careers to these students,” commented Dr. Dawn Cartee, President of Ogeechee Tech.  “It is an honor to be chosen to receive such a grant, especially considering there were only 20 awarded in the nation,” Dr. Cartee further stated.

Information from the FMA Foundation website describes the purpose of the camp by stating, “A demographic shift in the U.S. work force caused by retiring baby boomers is taking place, and the manufacturing sector is already feeling the impact. While improvements in technology have increased efficiency rates and reduced the amount of unskilled labor needed, there is an ever-increasing demand for highly skilled professionals such as engineers who can design, program, and operate technology being employed.”  The site went on to say, “The purpose of manufacturing camp grants is to provide a positive, hands-on experience so young people will consider manufacturing as a future career option.”

Ogeechee Technical College is partnering with the Tri-County Workforce Consortium and the Department of Technical and Adult Education Stay in School Grant program to offer the camp.  The camp will provide exposure to local industries facilities and operations, as well as classroom and lab exercises on the OTC campus.  Dave Collins of the Tri-County workforce consortium described the camp as, “a fantastic way to let some of our local students know that viable careers exist in the manufacturing industry locally.”  He went on to say, “this first-hand exposure can make a much greater impression than simply hearing or reading about a particular career.”  OTC hopes to begin the process of selecting participants soon, and will utilize instructors at area schools to help determine which students will have the opportunity to attend.

Contact: Barry Turner
Executive Director of Public Relations
Phone: (912) 688-6958
Email: bturner@ogeecheetech.edu