MAC’s Public Policy team, members of the General Assembly, and state staff visited the THINC College & Career Academy and Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia, Inc. (KMMG) last week to learn about the unique relationship between the two organizations.
MAC’s Public Policy team, members of the General Assembly, and state staff visited the THINC College & Career Academy and Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia, Inc. (KMMG) last week to learn about the unique relationship between the two organizations. KMMG, located in West Point, is a founding partner of THINC, located nearby in LaGrange. Together, they embody education and workforce collaborating to meet each other’s needs.
The unique public-private partnership developed in response to KMMG’s 2006 decision to invest in the region by establishing a production facility. With goals focused on quality and innovation, KMMG knew it needed talented skills from its future workforce. Therefore, it invested heavily in the planned public charter school and led others in the community to do the same.
In 2015, THINC welcomed its first students and today teaches 800 students pursuing six pathways: business, energy, health science, marketing, mechatronics, and STEM. A few students even work at KMMG before or after their classes. To better prepare students for the real workplace, 30 percent of students’ grade comes from 13 soft skills categories. Additionally, many of the instructors come from the industries about which they’re teaching, infusing their professional experience into the classroom.
THINC is strategically placed adjacent to West Georgia Technical College, where more than 150 THINC students are currently dual enrolled. The college offers apprenticeships to any manufacturer in Troup County.
