Education: A Key Component of Success
by Chamber Chairman Darrell Snyder, Georgia Power Company
Another school year is beginning and your Chamber of Commerce staff and volunteers are working together with our education systems to develop community leaders and a well-trained workforce. With our theme of Vision, Value and Teamwork, education remains a strong focus area.
Did you know that the Chamber-sponsored Youth Leadership Hall program is in its sixth year and has over 250 student graduates? Youth Leadership Hall was developed to educate high school juniors and seniors on leadership skills and important community issues. Students from both the public and private school systems are nominated by their school counselors, teachers or coaches to participate. Students complete six courses during the school year including programs on leadership and team-building, economic development, health and social services, the judicial system, and tourism. It is fascinating to see the great future of our community in these young adults as they participate in the program.
Another Chamber program, Leadership Hall County, was founded in 1983 and now has over 600 graduates. Leadership Hall seeks to identify and develop a diverse group of community leaders by providing them with opportunities to learn about important community issues in economic development, education, government, and health and human services. Class members also complete a service learning project that benefits the community.
School-to-career initiatives are a key priority for the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce and help create a quality workforce – a very important component in the recruitment of key industry to the area. Staff and volunteer efforts with the Quality Education Strategic Taskforce (Quest) Council, Youth Apprenticeship Program and Partner in Education play an important role in strengthening relationships and communications between businesses and education. We are always looking for opportunities to identify new business partners to assist our local school systems (see new partnership on page 15), so if you or your business is interested, please contact Dana Miller, Vice President of Education at the Greater Hall Chamber for more information.
The VISION 2030 Education Consortium is working to create a collaborative effort between public and private institutions within the secondary school systems and our local technical, public and private colleges and universities. By meeting routinely to review growing trends in education, they are working to ensure that high quality talent is available for new and existing businesses and industries.
These are just a few of the exciting areas in educational development where the Greater Hall Chamber is working to create great value for our community and for generations to come. Are you interested in learning more about these and other Chamber programs? Do you have a passion to become a member volunteer? If so, call us at 770-532-6206, or email: dmiller@ghcc.com