Promoting entrepreneurship : Georgia's technical college system

Georgia's Technical College System
Promoting Entrepreneurship

Georgia's Technical College System
Promoting Entrepreneurship
Technical education has always been the fast track to independence. It involves training in the kind of real skills that the market demands, and is always focused on the desired goal: jobs. But technical education also instills the kind of confidence and self-worth that often inspires an even greater ambition: start your own business. For many years, technical college graduates have found that their technical training was the perfect foundation for starting their own businesses. Students in fields ranging from healthcare and information technology to welding and graphic design graduate from their programs and discover that there are customers out there willing to pay for their services. The only obstacle between these technical college graduates and the independent life of a small businessperson is the knowledge needed to develop, market and manage a new venture. That's why, in recent years, Georgia's Technical College System has begun implementing new programs specifically designed to give ambitious entrepreneurs the knowledge and training they need to launch a new business. These programs have been designed to quickly give an aspiring entrepreneur training in developing business plans, mapping out marketing strategies, untangling the process of incorporating and understanding tax laws. In this publication,"Promoting Entrepreneurship," we have highlighted some of the ways in which Georgia's Technical College System helps support new businesses, and how we help take motivation, inspiration and ambition and transform them into a real revenue stream.
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Better Business New programs are preparing Georgia's entrepreneurs to overcome challenges

Entrepreneur Shawnta Shook
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By Matt Bolch

Afew years ago, Shawnta Shook never thought she would own a successful photography studio in Hiawassee at age 20. But that's what can happen when someone follows her interests, instincts and her parents' wise advice.
"During my senior year of high school, I was going crazy not knowing what to do," says Shook. So her parents advised her to make a career out of a hobby. Always the one to document her family's activities, the amateur shutterbug went to North Georgia Technical College to learn how to become a pro, receiving an associate's degree in photography in fall 2000.
In 2002, Shook decided to open her own photography business, so she returned to North Georgia Tech to earn a certificate of entrepreneurship. The coursework helped her plan and launch her business, Precious Memories Photography, which specializes in portrait and wedding photography.
"In Hiawassee, there are no other photographers in town, so people are finding me," Shook says."Business is great!"
Shook is just one of the increasing number of people who are seizing the opportunities offered by Georgia's Technical College System to become successful small-business owners. A recent study by the Carl Vinson Institute of Government that surveyed technical college graduates who had been out of school for 10 years found that 23 percent had started their own businesses and, at the time of the survey, 78 percent of those businesses had survived. The study's authors made a conservative estimate that recent technical college graduates had started 10,000 new businesses and created 42,000 new jobs over a 10-year period.
Starting one's own business has always been one major motivation for people seeking to acquire technical skills, but in the past few years Georgia's technical colleges have been incorporating entrepreneurship into the course offerings available. This steady, grassroots entrepreneurship movement is fueling community economies statewide.
"We've seen an increase in entrepreneurship during the recent economic downturn," says Dr. Ruth Nichols, president of North Georgia Technical College in Clarkesville."If our students are considering entrepreneurship as an option, we help them evaluate their skills, update them as necessary and make a living at them.
"It's the answer to the nation's challenges right now," Dr. Nichols says. "Putting people to work -- that's what we're about."

Learning the fundamentals For five years, North Georgia Technical College has been
helping entrepreneurs through its innovative Small Business Resource Center. North Georgia Tech is one of many technical colleges focusing on entrepreneurship, by teaching students stepby-step how to launch a business, including instruction in determining a market niche for a product or service, exploring financial options and understanding the legal aspects of business.
"We help students do all their research, write a business plan and prepare to open their doors," says Fran Chastain, director of the Entrepreneurial Education program at North Georgia Tech. Chastain says because of the nature of study at technical colleges, graduates are more likely to open their own businesses.
"About 75 percent of my students are straight out of other degree or diploma programs. About 25 percent come to the entrepreneurial program because they already know what they want to do, but they need help to develop their plan."
For those students who qualify, the Small Business Resource Center can also help pinpoint funding through the Mountain Partnership Loan Fund, a federal grant administered by Appalachian Community Enterprises, a non-profit, community-based organization in Cleveland, Ga., that awards small loans to entrepreneurs.
Many of the program's graduates have already launched businesses, Chastain says, including a dollar store, restaurants, pet store, landscape businesses and computer businesses. The college is also developing a new certificate of credit program called Small Business Owner/Operator."This second certificate will teach small-business owners more accounting and management skills," says Chastain.
"It will help those who have already opened their own business to stay in business."
From idea to execution The success of North Georgia Tech's program sparked the
recent launch of an entrepreneurship program at Augusta Technical College.
"It's a total approach to entrepreneurship," says Ted Duzenski, Augusta Technical College VP of economic development. The program covers financing, marketing and legal issues. The college's commitment to encouraging the entrepreneur spirit is also evident in its involvement with the Augusta-Richmond County Small Business Incubator.
A large number of Augusta Tech students have started businesses, says Alice Frye, Augusta Tech VP of instructional and student services, so the entrepreneurship program is well placed. Among the fields of study most likely to spawn new businesses, she says, are heating and air conditioning, culinary arts, cosmetology and early childhood education. But it's the community support that is a vital ingredient for getting new businesses off the ground.
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Case Study: CORNELIUS BUTLER
Business: Co-owner, Butler New Media LLC Location: Bainbridge, Ga. College: Bainbridge College
"A lot of people told me that they felt that I would not be able to cut it in college because of my disability," says Cornelius Butler, who is legally blind.
They were wrong. Butler has earned two technical certificates of credit and plans to graduate in 2004 with a Web design degree from the technical division of Bainbridge College.
In 2001, he launched Butler New Media LLC, a Web development and consulting firm with a staff of four specializing in creating Web sites that are accessible to the disabled.
"I've seen a lot of the issues people with disabilities face when they try to use the Web," says Butler. "And that served as inspiration to start my own company."
He already has figured out one key to business success: "I always underpromise and overdeliver."
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Case Study: JERRY VEAL
Business: Owner, gsijobs, Global Anesthesia Services and AYCON
Location: Athens, Ga. College: Athens Technical College
Jerry Veal had already earned a four-year degree and been an entrepreneur when he decided to enroll in Athens Technical College to pursue a career in anesthesia.
"The technical education was integral," says Veal, who received an associate's degree in nursing.
Veal heard there might be some business for a specialized anesthesia staffing agency, so he began Global Anesthesia Services in 1998 and in 2003 bought a Web company, AYCON. He recently diversified his holdings by creating gsijobs, a general staffing agency.
"It's a natural evolution from the medical staffing," he explains about the two businesses, whose more than 100 employees will serve clients nationally in 2004.

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"Collaboration of community stakeholders gathered to support micro entrepreneurs in their efforts to develop a sustainable business helps overall economic growth," says Duzenski.
"Technical colleges have targeted their markets well by locating many entrepreneurship programs in growing communities that can benefit from stable entrepreneurial activity," says DeAnn H. Dent of Middle Georgia Technical College in Warner Robins. "Hopefully we'll see an increase in the small-business success rate across Georgia."
Middle Georgia Tech has targeted entrepreneurs by offering a diploma and an associate's degree in marketing management, as well as a small-business management certificate that includes many of the elements of an entrepreneurship program. According to Dent, the main focus of the school's programs is directed toward developing a business plan and managing finances, giving entrepreneurs a solid foundation in the basics of launching a business.
"It's not enough to hang out your shingle and wait for business," Dent says.
Sandersville Technical College developed an entrepreneurship program after conducting a survey among businesses in its five-county service area and discovering a significant interest in entrepreneurship programs, according to Jack Sterrett, president of Sandersville Tech. The curriculum of the certificate program in entrepreneurship, which was launched a year ago, includes two marketing courses, one management course and an internship. "It's aimed at small-business owners," says Sterrett, noting that smaller ventures dominate his service area."But it also appeals to those who have a dream."
Staying in business According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 230,000
people in Georgia were self-employed in 2001. Two-thirds of new

Case Study: TONYA L. MINTZ
Business: Publisher, Atlanta Hair magazine Location: Duluth, Ga. College: Gwinnett Technical College
When Tonya L. Mintz enrolled in Gwinnett Technical College in 2001, her business, Voila Communications, had stalled. Circulation for her magazine, Atlanta Hair, wasn't growing. She didn't know what to do.
After she enrolled in Gwinnett Tech's marketing management degree program, the first thing she learned was how to write a business plan. After that, everything fell into place.
"I had goals for my business in my head," she says. "Once they were on paper, I was able to make them happen."
Within two years, she doubled the magazine's circulation to 25,000, added a part-time employee and was named a regional winner of the Global 2003 Student Entrepreneur Award, sponsored by St. Louis University.
"At Gwinnett Tech, I learned that hope isn't a business strategy," she says. 6

businesses survive at least two years, and nearly one-half survive at least four years. However, says Linda Griffies, West Georgia Technical College VP of economic development,"There are a lot of talented people who go out of business every day." The difference, she says, is preparation.
Recently, West Georgia Tech began supporting entrepreneurs by offering a small-business management certificate in addition to its marketing management program. The school offers classes covering such issues as business start-up basics, marketing on a shoestring, understanding financial statements and developing a business plan, says Carol Shroeder, continuing education coordinator.
Tougher than teaching the basics of business is instilling the ambition and passion needed to successfully run one's own business. That poses a significant challenge, says George Gannage, marketing instructor at West Central Technical College, which offers a small-business management certificate and a marketing management diploma and degree.
"The work ethic is the hardest thing to teach," Gannage says. "People don't understand the hours and the dedication you have to put in the business."
"I'm impressed with anyone who can start a business with a small amount of money and a lot of hard work," says Jimmy Manning, Valdosta Tech's marketing program coordinator."The most important thing we can teach our students is what's involved in starting a business and what the responsibilities are, particularly if you hire employees." Valdosta Tech, which has a marketing management diploma program, immerses students in practical, entrepreneur-focused business courses such as advertising, location analysis, financing and managing a small business.
"The thing I enjoy the most is seeing the ideas the students come up with and then helping them go forward," says Manning.

Georgia's Technical College System has developed a number of courses that address the specific needs of the aspiring entrepreneur. While technical training itself prepares an individual with marketable skills, the entrepreneurship programs at the technical colleges serve to prepare individuals to handle the paperwork, legal requirements and marketing challenges that are essential to business success. Here is a sample of some of the courses in entrepreneurship offered through some of Georgia's technical colleges.
ENT 101 Planning for Success
Provides student with an understanding of the planning process as it relates to owning and operating a business. Emphasis is placed on development of personal plan, business plan and marketing plan.
ENT 102 Business Start-Up Fundamentals
Provides students with an understanding of the process involved in starting a business. Emphasis is placed on legal structure, permitting, licensing, financing/accounting and risk management.
ENT 103 Legal Environment of Small Business
Provides students with an understanding of the legal environment within which a small business operates.

Case Study: TONY BOWMAN, CONNIE & DARRELL HARRELL
Business: Co-owners, Micro-Management Systems and Netline America Location: Dublin, Ga. College: Heart of Georgia Technical College
Connie and Darrell Harrell founded Micro-Management Systems in 1992, the year they graduated with electronics diplomas from Heart of Georgia Technical College. Soon joined by fellow grad Tony Bowman, they started a second company, Netline America, an Internet service provider that serves middle Georgia.
Presently, the friends are concentrating on building an almost 8,000sq.-ft. office park in Dublin. "We'll be starting a couple of new divisions when we move because we'll have more room and more facilities," explains Bowman. "We're starting a cabling division, including network, voice and electrical cabling."
"It all goes back to the same basic principles that we learned at Heart of Georgia," says Darrell Harrell.
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Heating Things Up Business incubators at technical colleges support Georgia's entrepreneurs

Entrepreneur Leslie Duke
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By Greg Land

Leslie Duke knew he had a good product to sell. But he also knew it would take patience and persistence to market the innovation. It was a product unlikely to start flying off store shelves by itself.
Tickle Me Elmo it wasn't. "We are in a very niche market," says Duke, president of Ballistics Research, which had figured out a groundbreaking way to do ballistics testing on firearms without doing damage to the bullets. What Ballistics Research needed to crack that niche market was a little luck and some low overhead. Luck would have to take care of itself, but Duke found the low-cost office space he needed at the Business Expansion Center (BEC), run by Coosa Valley Technical College in Rome. And shortly after he located his startup at BEC last summer, members of Congress, U.S. Army firearms experts and law enforcement officials from around the country were paying call to this North Georgia city for a demonstration. Today, Duke acknowledges that Coosa Valley Tech's BEC was essential to getting his company off the ground. "It really helps on numerous fronts," he says."Cash outlay when you're just getting started is very important, and they give you space to grow your business at a very reasonable rate. The financial benefits, the networking benefits -- there are just so many things they do for us as far as getting the word out about our products." The BEC, along with the Augusta-Richmond County Small Business Incubator (SBI), operated by Augusta Technical College, are two of a number of business incubators being developed at Georgia's technical colleges. Living up to the image conjured by the word "incubator" as a warm, encouraging place to support the early growth of young businesses, these incubators are intended to foster regional economic development by giving critical, early support to entrepreneurs and small businesses through managerial and technical assistance, low office rental rates and shared access to basic office services and equipment. But the businesses that join the incubators get more than just a break on rent. In addition to hosting seminars and market capital meetings, both Rome's BEC and Augusta's SBI maintain advisory boards heavily stocked with business professionals who serve as mentors. Each incubator requires regular meetings between advisory board members and clients in order to review business plans and bookkeeping and otherwise promote their tenants' ongoing progress.

Bruce McClearen, Beocarta

"On BEC's board of advisors, we have about 30 business professionals -- lawyers, accountants, company executives, community leaders -- who advise us and our companies," says Pete McDonald, Coosa Valley Tech VP of economic development."If the companies are worried about taxes, for instance, they can sit down with one of these accountants free of charge and be advised."
At the SBI in Augusta, Director Laura Geddings similarly keeps in close touch with the fledgling businesses being supported by the incubator.
"The advisory board is required," she says."It's really for their benefit to let us track how well they're doing. We provide written minutes quarterly [and] they also take advantage of any seminars or workshops we provide. And I'm always trying to link them to any funding sources I find out about."
Attracting new business In his role as director of the BEC, Ronnie Wallace has in just
three years managed to draw a remarkably diverse slate of clients to his facility's roster, in part by actively filling the role of "mother hen" as he nurtures young businesses."The center is meant to be as close to a `safe haven' for entrepreneurs as possible," says Wallace. "We provide low-cost office space -- below market pricing -- as well as professional assistance."
While the BEC is relatively small -- a 38,000-sq.-ft. converted furniture factory in a depressed Rome neighborhood -- it numbers among its eight current clients a state-of-the-art biometrics laboratory (installed for Beocarta, a Scotland-based biotech firm) and a company that manufactures portable cooling towers for businesses throughout North America.
"The incubator has helped us bring in new jobs that we haven't seen in this area before," says Pete McDonald."The biotech company, for example, is the only one I'm aware of in northwest Georgia. As with most incubators, our lease fees are about 60
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Case Study: KATRINA WILLIAMS
Business: Owner, Williams Accounting and Consulting Service
Location: Thomasville, Ga. College: Southwest Georgia Technical College
Katrina Williams always planned on numbering her own business among her successes. But when her grandfather became ill, her dreams took a backseat to family responsibility and she moved to Thomasville to care for her ailing relative.
In Thomasville, she discovered Southwest Georgia Technical College's accounting program. "I chose to go to the tech school because they were offering a great program," she says. "It took me to that next level."
After graduating with a degree in accounting, she opened Williams Accounting and Consulting Service in 1999 with a long-term goal of doubling the number of tax returns she completed.
She exceeded her goal. Now five assistants help her complete more than 400 tax returns for 38 clients. "We want to be considered a one-stop shop accounting office," she says.
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Case Study: KEILANI STINSON
Business: Owner, Servants of the Divine Location: Riverdale, Ga. College: Flint River Technical College
Flint River Technical College helped Keilani Stinson realize her calling to start a home healthcare business. When college brochures arrived in the mail, the nursing program caught her eye. Soon, she had quit her textile factory job, applied for a HOPE Grant and was pursuing a diploma in practical nursing.
"Nursing made me feel complete," she says. "The coursework was difficult, but my teachers encouraged me." After graduating in 2000, Stinson began working for a home healthcare company and decided to start her own company.
Within a year, she had received a preliminary license for her own home healthcare business, Servants of the Divine. The name of her company reflects her personal mission. "By helping others," she says, "I believe I am serving God. He made this possible for me."

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percent of what comparable market value properties would be. [Clients] pay a single fee each month that covers utilities, phone lines, computer access, heat and air."
The center, which McDonald credits with directly creating more than 20 jobs so far, was also of great value in recruiting two new major manufacturers to the area. Pirelli Tires and Suzuki, which recently opened an ATV plant in Rome, both used the BEC for temporary site headquarters while their own facilities were under construction."We housed Pirelli for a year while they built their facility; Suzuki was here for more than a year," says McDonald."We provided desks and Internet access, really free of charge. All they paid for were their long-distance fees."
Bruce McClearen of Beocarta has nothing but praise for the BEC. Noting that his company, which does very specialized work for chemical and pharmaceutical companies, has very specialized needs, McClearen says the center went to great lengths, including installing necessary infrastructure, to accommodate requisite laboratory and storage equipment."Everyone here has just been really great to work with," he says. Even the location is an asset. "We needed to be near major universities and laboratories [in Atlanta]," he notes, but "at the same time, this is a very competitive business. We needed to be a bit out of the way, too."
Ninety-five percent and growing At 95 percent capacity, Augusta Technical College's SBI is a
definite success story. Opened near the college campus in November 1999, the SBI was envisioned as a high-tech incubator, says Director Laura Geddings. However, the 2000 recession and, moreover, the September 11 attacks threw an unforeseen obstacle in the new incubator's path."An obvious result was that a lot of the IT companies just left," she says."After 9/11, we had three that basically moved back home. They saw a real fall in sales over the

Case Study: TRENT HALL
Business: Owner, Sunbelt Air Location: Swainsboro, Ga. College: Southeastern Technical College
Trent Hall turned from farming to a cooler job with help from Southeastern Technical College.
Frustrated with the 60-hour work week of a farm manager, Hall enrolled in night classes at Southeastern Technical College, where he gained hands-on training in air conditioning technology. Within a few years, Hall graduated and started his own air conditioning business, Sunbelt Air, which grossed over one million dollars last year.
"I didn't expect for the business to become so successful this quickly," says Hall, who praises the technical training he received from instructor Bobby Kimball. "I credit him for leading me in the right direction," Hall says.
"There are not enough people out there with skills anymore," says Hall, who employs eight full-time employees. "Southeastern Tech offers that kind of training." 10

Internet for Web design and online sales. The high-tech industries were really hit hard. Since then, however, just by word of mouth and other clients' customers coming in, we're really moving. I only have two small offices open."
"Generally, the areas we wanted to cultivate were oriented to high-tech organizations, and we're trying to keep it at that," notes Ted Duzenski, Augusta Tech VP of economic development."But we've really gone beyond the technology area to businesses that look like they'll have an economic impact on the area. We're targeting minority businesses, female-operated businesses, disadvantaged businesses."
The SBI's affiliation with and proximity to Augusta Tech benefits both institutions."Working with the college, our mission is to `cross-pollinate' with students," says Geddings."I utilize a workstudy student for my receptionist, and a couple of our clients have used students as interns. I had one client who utilized an entire class. He was developing a thermostatic control device and needed a marketing plan. So he took the device up to one of the electronics classes and the professor used that for a project throughout the quarter. The students researched it, came up with a marketing plan and presented it to the client. It helped the client and provided the students with a real-life, hands-on learning opportunity."
Including the SBI's roster of 10 current clients, some 20 companies have so far worked with the incubator and almost all have been success stories, says Geddings."Only one is not in business any more," she says.
Like most incubators, the SBI tries to get its clients up, running and "out of the nest" in about three years."Normally, that's what we try for," says Geddings."However, if there's not a waiting list, they can stay a fourth year. But hopefully, at that point, they've learned enough and saved enough money that they can survive out there on their own."

Case Study: JOHN HILL
Business: Owner, Garrett Motorsports Location: Cartersville, Ga. College: North Metro Technical College
John Hill's first job was sweeping floors in a garage. Now he owns a garage. North Metro Technical College gave him the training to make the transition. The college's Ford Asset program put the GED graduate on the right track, teaching him the automotive repair skills he needed. "It sounded like a really good opportunity," says Hill of the innovative program. It was. The program gave Hill the expertise to open a successful garage with a friend in 2002. In 2003, Hill became sole owner of Garrett Motorsports and introduced towing services. As his own boss, "I get to spend a lot more time with my family," says Hill, who named his company after his son. "That's worth a lot of money."

Case Study: LESTER LOWERY
Business: Owner, Mustard Seed Video Productions Location: Augusta, Ga. Member of Augusta-Richmond County Small Business Incubator
What began in a garage is now a successful business with a staff of five and a promising future.
Three years ago when Lester Lowery's start-up, Mustard Seed Video Productions, had grown from a micro business into a small business, Lowery found the critical support he needed in the Augusta-Richmond County Small Business Incubator (SBI), operated by Augusta Technical College. The SBI kept Lowery's overhead low, while the advisory board kept the business on track.
"They constantly look at your business plan to make sure you're doing the right things," says Lowery. "Any area that you might be having problems in, there are people on the board who can point you in the right direction."
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Entrepreneurship Resources

Sandersville Technical College

Entrepreneurship training takes many forms, but all rely on the fundamentals of solid technical training. Georgia's Technical College System is leading the way for enterprising entrepreneurs by offering certificate, diploma and degree programs to promote entrepreneurship statewide in the 21st century.

By focusing on management skills, entrepreneurship programs teach students the techniques to fire up their start-ups. From business etiquette to business law, entrepreneurship education takes on the day-to-day business operations that are the keys to success.

Albany Technical College

Five schools offer a specialized entrepreneurship technical certificate of credit. Their customized programs prepare entrepreneurs by training them in:

Marketing strategies based on trend research and reporting

Business planning, from accrual to accounting

Business law, including environmental and contract issues affecting small-business owners

In addition to customized entrepreneurship certificates, Georgia's Technical College System also offers in-depth marketing management diploma and degree programs that incorporate entrepreneurship training. Marketing management programs across the state invest in success by giving emerging entrepreneurs the marketing administration, corporate communications and business management skills they require.

Once students' technical training is finished, business resource centers take entrepreneurs to the next level. North Georgia Technical College's Small Business Resource Center offers one-on-one business consulting to entrepreneurs, and business incubators like Augusta Technical College's Augusta-Richmond County Small Business Incubator, South Georgia Technical College's Small Business Expansion Center and Coosa Valley Technical College's Business Expansion Center provide a strong base of entrepreneurship support in Georgia.

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Coosa Valley Technical College

Technical College Business Resources
Augusta-Richmond County Small Business Incubator Augusta Technical College 706.492.9044
Business Expansion Center Coosa Valley Technical College 706.295.6382
Small Business Resource Center North Georgia Technical College 706.754.7810
Small Business Expansion Center South Georgia Technical College 229.931.2040
Entrepreneurship Certificate Programs
Albany Technical College 229.430.3500 Augusta Technical College 706.771.4000 North Georgia Technical College 706.754.7700 Sandersville Technical College 478.553.2050 South Georgia Technical College 229.931.2040
Small-Business Marketing Specialist Certificate Programs
Chattahoochee Technical College 770.528.4500 Coosa Valley Technical College 706.295.6206
Small-Business Owner/Operator Certificate Program
North Georgia Technical College 706.754.7700
Small-Business Record Keeping Program
Dalton College 706.272.4464
Small-Business Management Certificate Programs
Altamaha Technical College 912.427.5800 Athens Technical College 706.355.5000 Atlanta Technical College 404.756.3822 Bainbridge College 229.248.2504 Dalton State College 706 272-4434 DeKalb Technical College 404.297.9522 Gwinnett Technical College 770.962.7580 Lanier Technical College 770.531.6300 Middle Georgia Technical College 478.988.6800 Moultrie Technical College 229.217.4144 North Metro Technical College 770.975.4000

Small-Business Management Certificate Programs, cont.
South Georgia Technical College 229.931.2394 Ogeechee Technical College 912.681.5500 West Central Technical College 770.537.6000 West Georgia Technical College 706.845.4323
Marketing Management Programs
Albany Technical College 229.430.3500 Altamaha Technical College 912.427.5800 Athens Technical College 706.355.5000 Atlanta Technical College 404.756.3822 Augusta Technical College 706.771.4000 Bainbridge College 229.248.2504 Chattahoochee Technical College 770.528.4500 Clayton Technical College 770.961.3531 Coastal Georgia Community College 912.264.7201 Columbus Technical College 706.649.1800 Coosa Valley Technical College 706.295.6206 Dalton State College 706.272.4434 DeKalb Technical College 404.297.9522 East Central Technical College 229.468.2000 Griffin Technical College 770.228.7348 Gwinnett Technical College 770.962.7580 Lanier Technical College 770.531.6300 Middle Georgia Technical College 478.988.6800 Moultrie Technical College 229.217.4144 North Metro Technical College 770.975.4000 Ogeechee Technical College 912.681.5500 Okefenokee Technical College 912.287.6584 Savannah Technical College 912.351.6362 South Georgia Technical College 229.931.2394 Southeastern Technical College 912.538.3100 Valdosta Technical College 229.333.2100 West Central Technical College 770.537.6000 West Georgia Technical College 706.845.4323
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Georgia's Technical College System

Technical Colleges
Albany Technical College, Albany Altamaha Technical College, Jesup Appalachian Technical College, Jasper Athens Technical College, Athens Atlanta Technical College, Atlanta Augusta Technical College, Augusta Central Georgia Technical College, Macon Chattahoochee Technical College, Marietta Columbus Technical College, Columbus Coosa Valley Technical College, Rome DeKalb Technical College, Clarkston East Central Technical College, Fitzgerald Flint River Technical College, Thomaston Georgia Aviation Technical College, Eastman Griffin Technical College, Griffin Gwinnett Technical College, Lawrenceville Heart of Georgia Technical College, Dublin Lanier Technical College, Oakwood Middle Georgia Technical College, Warner Robins

Moultrie Technical College, Moultrie North Georgia Technical College, Clarkesville North Metro Technical College, Acworth Northwestern Technical College, Rock Spring Ogeechee Technical College, Statesboro Okefenokee Technical College, Waycross Sandersville Technical College, Sandersville Savannah Technical College, Savannah South Georgia Technical College, Americus Southeastern Technical College, Vidalia Southwest Georgia Technical College, Thomasville Swainsboro Technical College, Swainsboro Valdosta Technical College, Valdosta West Central Technical College, Waco West Georgia Technical College, LaGrange
Technical Divisions
Bainbridge College, Bainbridge Clayton College and State University, Morrow Coastal Georgia Community College, Brunswick Dalton State College, Dalton

Web-based courses of Georgia's technical colleges are accessed through the Georgia Virtual Technical College (GVTC), www.gvtc.org.

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Georgia Department of Adult and Technical Education 1800 Century Place, Suite 300 Atlanta, GA 30345 www.dtae.org