Mechanical instructor Joel Barnes sets up for a pneumatic and hydraulic class at the Shaw Industries training facility in Dalton, Ga.DALTON, GA. — For a long time, Dalton hummed along without a pure technical school.
Dalton State College picked up some of the slack, offering both academic as well as some technical classes, but manufacturers mostly trained their own workers.
That was fine at a time when working for a carpetmaker simply meant performing manual labor.
Now, however, the increased sophistication in the region’s manufacturing sector is creating a massive talent shortage, according to Vance Bell, CEO of Shaw Industries.
“We do struggle sometimes to find expertise to run our sophisticated manufacturing systems — that is a challenge,” Bell said. “Every manufacturer is saying, ‘I need more technical training.'”