We believe strong communities are built on the actions of people, individually and collectively. Our people are proud to support Jackson County, volunteering their time, talent and funds to the benefit of educational and social causes. And as good neighbors, we maintain education partnerships to foster student learning including Empower College & Career Academy.
Here is what The Jackson Herald had to say about our most recent effort with Empower:
- The Empower College and Career Center recently received three large donations from local industry leaders.
- The donations were made by Solmax, formerly known as Tencate, Vulcan Materials and Takeuchi during recent Jackson County Board of Education meetings, and on Tuesday morning at Empower. The donation from Solmax is a $10,000 per year donation and the partnership will be utilized to enhance the learning experience in the Advanced Engineering and Technology program at Empower, while the donation from Vulcan is for $100,000, broken across four years. The donation from Vulcan will go to support the Construction and Heavy Equipment Pathway program.
- “Partnering with Empower College and Career Center is the right thing to do. Supporting the Construction Pathways program will connect students with our industry and serve as a pipeline for workforce development,” Vulcan Materials said in a press release. “On behalf of the employees at our Jackson County Quarry, Vulcan Materials Company is thrilled to make a multi-year investment totaling $100,000 in the youth of Jackson County.”
- Through the partnership, Empower and Solmax have been able to develop the GaCATT, the Georgia Consortia for Advanced Technical Training, program, which produced its first Empower apprentice during the 2022-23 school year. As a result, Solmax is paying for all of the student’s post-secondary education expenses while he completes his associates degree at Lanier Technical College. A second apprentice began working at Solmax the week of August 7.
- Takeuchi donated $70,000 worth of equipment, including a mini excavator that will be utilized by the Heavy Machinery and Construction Pathway program. Takeuchi also donated a diesel engine that will be used in a future pathway program at Empower.
