SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
The Georgia Solution
Workforce development addressed through statewide collaboration
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| Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue presents the 2004 Manufacturer of the Year award to John Olson, NACOM VP and general manager, and Satoshi Nagishi, chairman of NACOM/Yazaki North America, at the annual Manufacturing Appreciation Week Governor's Awards Luncheon. |
When the U.K.-based
company Perkins Shibaura was looking for a location for a new plant
in the U.S. to manufacture diesel engines, one factor made Georgia stand
out from the rest. "We discovered Quick Start,"
says Nigel Briers, Perkins Shibaura's change facilitator. "We learned
that they could deliver this full-blown, wholehearted induction program
for our employees and manufacturing operations, and all this could be
done prior to us taking over the facility and starting production.
"That's just something that you could not walk away from."
Perkins Shibaura, which is a joint venture between Perkins Engines, a division of Caterpillar, and Ishikawajimi Shibaura Machinery Company, is not alone. Over the past 10 years, thousands of companies have found that Quick Start's free workforce training services are something they could not walk away from, including companies from more than 20 different countries. To date, Quick Start has been involved in 4,600 training projects with new, existing and expanding companies in Georgia.
And Perkins Shibaura's Briers isn't the only corporate executive from an international company with effusive praise for the effectiveness of Quick Start's services.
"Quick Start's professionals have consistently brought more to our cause than we expected," said David Gooch, vice president of human resources for Pirelli, an Italy-based tire company with a plant located in Rome, Ga. "Quick Start's customized programs would have cost us hundreds of thousands in the private consultant market."
Quick Start's work with international companies from countries ranging from Italy and France to Japan and Korea goes beyond the customized job training for which it has been internationally acclaimed. The training can also include the soft skills necessary to develop world-class facilities.
"Manufacturing quality and productivity depend on effective communication," says Sandra Morris, Quick Start's director of performance technology who oversees cross-cultural training. To facilitate this, Quick Start even provides workshops in cross-cultural sensitivity, appropriate communications styles, and business protocol.
Adult Education (DTAE), has worked with more than 470,000 trainees in
Georgia. One key to Quick Start's success is its willingness to adapt
to changes in technology and production techniques, and to work hand-in-hand
with the other agencies in the state dedicated to economic development.
Today, Quick Start's customized training covers everything from Lean
Manufacturing and Statistical Process Control to ISO 9001/2000 and ISO/TS
16949.
And Quick Start provides this world-class expertise free of charge to qualified companies.
Key partners in Quick Start's approach to workforce training are the 34 technical colleges in Georgia's Technical College System, which is also a part of the DTAE. Quick Start is able to provide the initial workforce training services to help a start-up or expansion get going, and the local technical college then helps maintain that working relationship.
Strategically located throughout Georgia, the technical colleges are staffed with economic development professionals whose sole job is to support relationships with area businesses. They keep in close contact with business leaders in order to guarantee the flexibility and customer responsiveness of the colleges' training services.
"Every company has a different personality," says Russ Vandiver, VP of Economic Development at Lanier Technical College in Gainesville, Ga., which is one of the DTAE's technical colleges located around the state. "Getting to know them helps me provide better service.
Quick Start also works closely with the Georgia Department of Economic Development (formerly the Ga. Dept. of Industry, Trade and Tourism) in order to help present a customized and comprehensive package to potential new businesses considering locating in Georgia. In addition, the DTAE and the Department of Economic Development each year demonstrate their ongoing support of industry in Georgia by sponsoring the state's Manufacturing Appreciation Week, during which Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue presents Manufacturer of the Year awards to businesses in three separate categories.
"Quick Start is a part of Georgia's economic development team," says Jackie Rohosky, the DTAE's assistant commissioner for Economic Development Programs, which includes Quick Start. "Our collaboration with the Georgia Department of Economic Development, the University System's ICAAP, Georgia Tech's Economic Development Institute, and numerous statewide and local development partners, allow us to provide focused and coordinated attention to any prospective company considering locating in Georgia."
"That's just something that you could not walk away from."
Perkins Shibaura, which is a joint venture between Perkins Engines, a division of Caterpillar, and Ishikawajimi Shibaura Machinery Company, is not alone. Over the past 10 years, thousands of companies have found that Quick Start's free workforce training services are something they could not walk away from, including companies from more than 20 different countries. To date, Quick Start has been involved in 4,600 training projects with new, existing and expanding companies in Georgia.
And Perkins Shibaura's Briers isn't the only corporate executive from an international company with effusive praise for the effectiveness of Quick Start's services.
"Quick Start's professionals have consistently brought more to our cause than we expected," said David Gooch, vice president of human resources for Pirelli, an Italy-based tire company with a plant located in Rome, Ga. "Quick Start's customized programs would have cost us hundreds of thousands in the private consultant market."
Quick Start's work with international companies from countries ranging from Italy and France to Japan and Korea goes beyond the customized job training for which it has been internationally acclaimed. The training can also include the soft skills necessary to develop world-class facilities.
"Manufacturing quality and productivity depend on effective communication," says Sandra Morris, Quick Start's director of performance technology who oversees cross-cultural training. To facilitate this, Quick Start even provides workshops in cross-cultural sensitivity, appropriate communications styles, and business protocol.
Georgia's coordinated, team effort
Since it began in 1967, Quick Start, which is part
of Georgia's Department of Technical and
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| Perkins Shibaura facility manager Paul Clark (left) speaks at a ceremony in which the company signed a workforce training plan agreement with Griffin Technical College and Quick Start. Also at the head table were Griffin Tech President Robert Arnold and DTAE assistant commissioner for Economic Development Programs Jackie Rohosky. |
And Quick Start provides this world-class expertise free of charge to qualified companies.
Key partners in Quick Start's approach to workforce training are the 34 technical colleges in Georgia's Technical College System, which is also a part of the DTAE. Quick Start is able to provide the initial workforce training services to help a start-up or expansion get going, and the local technical college then helps maintain that working relationship.
Strategically located throughout Georgia, the technical colleges are staffed with economic development professionals whose sole job is to support relationships with area businesses. They keep in close contact with business leaders in order to guarantee the flexibility and customer responsiveness of the colleges' training services.
"Every company has a different personality," says Russ Vandiver, VP of Economic Development at Lanier Technical College in Gainesville, Ga., which is one of the DTAE's technical colleges located around the state. "Getting to know them helps me provide better service.
Quick Start also works closely with the Georgia Department of Economic Development (formerly the Ga. Dept. of Industry, Trade and Tourism) in order to help present a customized and comprehensive package to potential new businesses considering locating in Georgia. In addition, the DTAE and the Department of Economic Development each year demonstrate their ongoing support of industry in Georgia by sponsoring the state's Manufacturing Appreciation Week, during which Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue presents Manufacturer of the Year awards to businesses in three separate categories.
"Quick Start is a part of Georgia's economic development team," says Jackie Rohosky, the DTAE's assistant commissioner for Economic Development Programs, which includes Quick Start. "Our collaboration with the Georgia Department of Economic Development, the University System's ICAAP, Georgia Tech's Economic Development Institute, and numerous statewide and local development partners, allow us to provide focused and coordinated attention to any prospective company considering locating in Georgia."
