Dalton State College and Georgia Northwestern Technical College (GNTC) will host the first Northwest Georgia Workforce Summit on Friday, Aug. 22, beginning at 8:30 a.m. in Gignilliat Hall at the Dalton State campus. The summit will bring together educators, business leaders, and community partners to explore strategies for strengthening the region’s economic and workforce competitiveness.
The summit will feature opening remarks from Chancellor Sonny Perdue of the University System of Georgia and Commissioner Greg Dozier of the Technical College System of Georgia, who will address the critical role of higher education in meeting Georgia’s evolving workforce needs.
“As Northwest Georgia prepares to welcome more than 20,000 new jobs over the next decade, the need for a highly skilled and educated workforce has never been more urgent. This summit reflects our shared commitment to ensuring the region is ready—not just to meet that demand, but to lead in innovation, talent development, and economic growth,” Johnk Fuchko, III, president of Dalton State, said.
The programming will include panel discussions, presentations and interactive sessions led by regional industry leaders, covering emerging workforce trends, educational partnerships and actionable strategies for talent development and retention.
“We know that communities across our region are deeply invested in growing and retaining a talented, skilled workforce, and there are some great things happening,” GNTC President Heidi Popham said. “This summit provides a powerful platform to bring together industry, education, and regional leaders to share ideas and best practices that benefit the region as a whole.”
In December 2024, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp announced a unified high demand career list that aligns education and workforce development efforts with employers across Georgia. The regional list for Northwest Georgia is heavily weighted with careers in the education, engineering, manufacturing, health science, construction, and transportation and logistics sectors. However, there is also significant demand noted for professionals in financial services, public safety, energy, human services, information technology, and marketing.
“The regional high demand career list reflects local industry concentrations and employment needs, and it helps our educational institutions design programs that are responsive to employer and student needs,” said Kate Maine, Dalton State’s vice president of marketing, communications and workforce development.
Initiatives like the high demand career list have supported the colleges’ development of articulation agreements that allow students to enroll at GNTC in specific associate degree programs and then transfer to a corresponding bachelor’s degree program at Dalton State or Georgia Highlands College.
Lunch will feature roundtable discussions to foster collaboration and idea-sharing among attendees. There will be an optional networking session held on Thursday, Aug. 21, from 7 to 8 p.m. in Gignilliat Hall.
While participation for the summit is free, registration is required due to limited space. To learn more or to register, visit daltonstate.edu/workforce-summit.
