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Our job is to connect you with talent – that was the message that Georgia Gwinnett College leaders conveyed to area businesses at its inaugural Corporate and Workforce Development Breakfast.

Jennifer Hendrickson, GGC’s associate vice president of Advancement, said GGC offers opportunities for businesses and corporations to strengthen current alliances and create new ones with the college.

“We want to create win-win collaborations with corporations, non-profits and organizations that serve Gwinnett County and the region,” Hendrickson said. “We believe we can be at the forefront of creating the workforce that Gwinnett and metro Atlanta needs.”

Joining Hendrickson at the event were the deans of GGC’s five schools. The leaders shared information regarding their schools’ curriculum, internships and engagement opportunities.

Along with enhanced technical skills, Dr. Chavonda Mills, dean of GGC’s School of Science and Technology (SST), added that embedded in her school’s curriculum were opportunities for students to develop characteristics that can be used in any role.

“Our curriculum also allows students to develop what many refer to as soft skills, or as I like to call them “essential skills” – critical thinking, problem-solving, oral and written communication, working with diverse teams,” she said. “These skills prepare our graduates to be successful in the workplace.”

A staunch proponent for a liberal arts education, Dr. Teresa Winterhalter, dean of GGC’s School of Liberal Arts, said the skills learned at GGC will build the foundation for students to be successful at all levels of an organization, especially at the top. In fact, Winterhalter shared that nearly 50% of Fortune 500 CEOs have liberal arts degrees and use skills gained from the liberal arts curriculum.

“Liberal arts is like a moveable feast,” she said. “When you have a liberal arts education, it stays with you forever.

About 100 people attended the event, many of them representing businesses looking to add interns and employees to their ranks.

One of them was AnneMarie Scully of CPA consulting services firm, Rhodes, Young, Black and Duncan, located in Duluth. The firm is the newest member of GGC’s Corporate Affiliates Program, which connects businesses with GGC students and faculty through on- and off-campus events, recruiting activities and targeted relationship-building initiatives.

A number of factors weighed into Scully’s interest in recruiting students from GGC to fill available internship and full-time accounting roles at her company.

“Location is a factor, because we’re practically right around the corner from the school,” she said. “But being in Gwinnett, we want to invest in the community. And after meeting the leadership and faculty and learning more about the programs and the school, I can say that we’re really impressed with all that GGC is doing.”

Organizers say that they plan to make the Corporate and Workforce Development Breakfast an annual event.

View corporate and workforce development event gallery and download photos.

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