Exciting Students About Technology Jobs of the Future in Rural Georgia

Students in Douglas-Coffee County and Swainsboro-Emanuel County not only do the math, but had an opportunity to learn its real-life applications in science, technology, and engineering, too, thanks to a pilot program launched in 2007 by Georgia Tech’s Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing (CEISMC) and Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI2).

Called STEM (for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), the program was sponsored by the Georgia Rural Economic Development Center (GREDC) at East Georgia College and entailed a collaboration of educators, employers, and economic developers. It includes activities to pique the interest and imaginations of young people who will become tomorrow’s workforce, serving a diversified group of students regardless of whether they plan to pursue post-secondary education at a technical college or a four-year institution. In one school system, the efforts specifically targeted students at risk of dropping out of high school.

The activities were shaped according to local economic development goals and were centered on outreach and foundation building, teacher internships, and introductory robotics training.

Specific activities included the following:

• Field trips to Atlanta involving research and robotics labs at Georgia Tech, as well as visits to the Georgia Aquarium and Fernbank Museum of Natural History and Science.

• Visits to a Griffin manufacturing firm where engineers demonstrated robotic operations.

• Training of four teachers in robotics technology.

• Three teachers participated in CEISMC’s GIFT (Georgia Intern-Fellowships for Teachers) program that gives them firsthand exposure to today’s technological workplace.

• Facilitation of a one-day technology road show by NASA’s Aerospace Education Services Program to enhance public understanding of scientific advances springing from the space agency’s missions.

• 20 students and four teachers participated in FIRST Robotics Championships, a competition challenging teams of students to solve a common problem via robotics.

A total of 144 students participated in the pilot, which local educators and economic developers feel ignited interest in STEM-related endeavors. The students designed, built, and programmed robots; applied real-world math and science concepts; and learned teamwork by laboring toward common goals. Further, student participants in both communities experienced some notable improvements from 2007 to 2008.  Although several factors may affect such improvements, there is reason to believe that the students’ involvement in the pilot program played a helpful role.  Regarding those participating in the pilot program:

• Average GPAs increased.

• School attendance significantly improved as denoted by the drop in average absentee days.

• Disciplinary actions dropped as indicated by the reduction in action plans generated.

Beyond these desirable improvements which may have been aided by the pilot program efforts, a number of students provided their direct feedback to the Georgia Tech team, regarding their field trip experiences, in particular.  “I enjoyed learning about all the different career opportunities available in my future. This [trip] has really motivated me to keep working hard in school.”  “[The trip] has helped broaden my mind on new ideas and has helped me better understand science and technology.”  “After today, I realized how important college really is in our lives. It opened my eyes and mind. This trip has inspired me to try my best and to do things that I would have never thought I could do.”

Given the success of the pilot, the program has been extended through 2009 with additional sponsorship provided by GREDC and will include further activities to enrich student interest in science, technology, engineering, and the math that fuels all three.

Strategically Planning for the Future in Troup County Georgia

Troup County and the Cities of LaGrange, West Point, and Hogansville are on the front lines of a dynamic transformation happening of the local and regional economies – thanks to the arrival of Kia and its suppliers, the expansion of Fort Benning, and the continued development of the surrounding metro areas of Atlanta, Auburn, and Columbus in west Georgia and east Alabama. More than 20,000 jobs and over 1,400 net new firms are anticipated to be created in Troup’s nine-county region due to the economic impact of Kia alone.  The county has also been successful in attracting several of the automaker’s suppliers.

To create a framework for sustainable development in the face of the anticipated economic growth, local leaders completed a two-year initiative to jumpstart their joint strategic planning efforts in June 2009.  This initiative involved developing innovative strategies for promoting quality growth, fostering healthy economic development, and enhancing residents’ quality of life – while protecting Troup County’s natural environment, sense of place, and community.

Troup County’s strategic planning efforts have been guided by a Leadership Team comprising of representatives from local government and institutional partners.  These efforts also benefitted from the insights of approximately 1,500 community stakeholders, including youth in the community, and several state and regional partners.  Georgia Tech served as the support crew to the Leadership Team during the two-year strategic planning start-up initiative – via its Enterprise Innovation Institute and Center for Quality Growth & Regional Development.  Georgia Tech team members conducted research, assessments, and strategy design during Year One and provided consulting assistance and facilitation to assist with organizational development for implementation during Year Two.

By the end of Year One, the Leadership Team had identified 10 strategic goals, 50 specific strategies, and more than 120 actionable initiatives to implement the strategies in its forward-thinking 2009-2012 strategic plan.  During Year Two, the Leadership Team and community partners began to implement the strategic planning initiatives while simultaneously exploring options for creating an organizational structure for continuing its efforts.  By the end of Year Two, work had begun on as many as 60 of the actionable initiatives either by local governments and/or community partners such as Troup County Schools, the LaGrange-Troup County Chamber of Commerce, and United Way.

• Local leaders affiliated with Troup County and the Cities of LaGrange, West Point, and Hogansville, and several institutional partners, meet monthly to share information and ideas concerning issues and opportunities of strategic importance for all of Troup County.  This vehicle serves as an organizational framework for making decisions jointly.

• Troup County developed a unified vision for managing future development and became the first community in Georgia to incorporate a “development scorecard” into its land use codes, based on model code provided by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs’ “land use guidance point system.”  The development scorecard serves as a guided conversation starter for Troup County and private developers to collaborate on projects that best meet the vision of Troup County.

• Local leaders launched a collaborative among local governments, workforce development providers and other institutional partners to connect Troup County residents to the economic development opportunities associated with Kia, its suppliers, and other new and existing industries.  This resulted in the development of www.TroupCountyWorks.com, a web portal to connect the local workforce with regional employers.  More than 100 employers have signed up to the portal.

• Troup County and its Cities created a non-profit organization known as the Troup County Center for Strategic Planning, Inc. to serve as the entity for continuing day-to-day oversight of its strategic planning efforts, to support continued efforts in thinking strategically about the future, and to provide a forum for the local entities to make joint decisions accordingly.

Serving the Independent Inventor Community

If necessity is the mother of invention, then passion is surely a close relative.

All across Georgia people are employing creativity and ingenuity to invent products that we, as consumers, use in our everyday lives. The passion put into these inventions is clear to anyone who spends even a few minutes with Georgia’s inventors, and Georgia Tech’s Enterprise

Innovation Institute (EI2) has recently spent a great deal of time with many of them. Through a series of educational workshops, EI2 has had a front row seat at the hard work and dedication that goes into inventing a new product.

In 2007, through a pilot program sponsored by the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA), EI2 became deeply engaged in gauging the volume of independent invention activity in Georgia, assessing the needs of the inventors behind this activity, and developing ways to assist them. Results from research conducted during the pilot program are available in two published reports – the 2007 Survey of Georgia’s Independent Inventors and the 2007 Case Study Review of Inventor Assistance Organizations.

The information gleaned from the analysis of 331 surveyed inventors indicated a strong need for more education of and direct assistance to Georgia’s inventors. For example, slightly more than 70 percent of the independent inventors stated that they had inventions requiring further design or other assistance to make them viable products.

EI2, the Technology Authority of Georgia (TAG), The Creative Coast Alliance (TCCa), and the Inventors Association of Georgia (IAG) launched a partnership to stage a series of workshops addressing key areas of need identified in the survey.

Between October and November 2008, these workshops were held in Atlanta and Savannah, focusing on high-priority topics: financing, licensing, marketing, and prototyping/manufacturing. Georgia experts in these fields spoke to the inventors, entrepreneurs, academics, students, and economic development professionals attending the workshops.

Some 247 people attended the workshop series, where participants developed camaraderie with their fellow inventors, learned from each other’s experiences, and networked with one another. The enthusiasm for the workshops shown by the inventors demonstrated their thirst for additional education and professional development opportunities.

Workshop attendees completed a brief survey at the end of each session. This gave EI2 and its partners the greatest indication of success as overall feedback was extremely positive. Nearly 87 percent of all respondents said that they would like to continue hearing about future Georgia Tech inventor-related events.

Nearly 98 percent of attendees stated that the program exceeded or successfully met their expectations, and 92.5 percent of respondents said they would be able to use the information presented to them.

Georgia’s independent inventors have an abundance of passion, and with some assistance, also have the potential to significantly contribute to Georgia’s economic development.