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Gifts will help fund transportation training at Georgia Piedmont
GPTC check
From left, GPTC Foundation Trustee Sharmon Monagan, Amazon Head of Community Affairs (Atlanta region) Terreta Rodgers, Trustee Co-Chair Ruth Wilson, GPTC and TCSG Foundation Executive Director Cory Thompson, Stonecrest Mayor Jazmin Cobble, DeKalb Board of Commissioners Chief of Staff Demetrius McCoy, GPTC President Tavarez Holston, Ex-Officio on the GPTC Foundation Board of Trustees Pamela Harroff, and TCSG Commissioner Greg Dozier. (Special | GPTC)

CLARKSTON, Ga. — Faculty and staff of Georgia Piedmont Technical College were treated to an extra dose of generosity at their annual Grateful Gathering holiday event and meeting this past Friday.

Amazon, the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners (on behalf of Commissioner Mereda Davis-Johnson) and the city of Stonecrest each presented checks to the college’s Foundation which will manage and distribute the funds for GPTC. Amazon’s gift totaled $70,000, DeKalb County’s was $150,000 and the City of Stonecrest gave a whopping $500,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. The gift from Amazon is earmarked for general support for Georgia Piedmont’s Regional Transportation Training Center (RTTC) in Lithonia. The DeKalb County funds are available immediately for GPTC students and will go toward student support. City of Stonecrest funds will go toward continuing education and training, focusing on the RTTC and logistics and transportation programs.

The college’s Regional Transportation Training Center in South DeKalb is in the final stages of design and will soon see a multi-million-dollar facelift. Construction on the RTTC is expected to begin in 2023 with classes commencing in 2024. Despite construction and labor costs skyrocketing, Georgia Piedmont has nearly doubled the initial allocation of $5.77 million by the state of Georgia with GPTC having raised an additional $5.5 million. So far, the total investment of GPTC partners for the Regional Transportation Training Center is about $14 million. Holston hopes to see another $1 million or so earmarked for equipment, faculty sponsorships, and student support.

In January, the state budgeted $2 million from the Georgia Emergency Education Relief Fund (GEER II) toward a CDL driving range and facilities in Newton County. Construction on that project is scheduled to begin in spring of 2023.

For more information about logistics and transportation programs offered at GPTC, visit www.gptc.edu.