Columbus Technical College knows its six-county service area is full of creative folks but now there’s hard evidence to make our case. The 20+ people representing Columbus Technical College found themselves clapping a lot as the names of winning artists were announced at the Manufacturers Appreciation Week (MAW) luncheon in Atlanta on April 14. That’s because our district is home to four of the 12 state winners!

CTC was well-represented at the MAW luncheon in Atlanta recently. Special guests included State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler (center front) and Rep. Debbie Buckner (left front).

April 14, 2015: State honorable mention winner in the middle school age group, Shamiya Billings.

April 14, 2015: Gov. Nathan Deal and Samantha Boren.

The state-sponsored art contest is open to kids in K-12 as a way to introduce them to the world of manufacturing and how important this industry is to the Peach State. Honorable Mention winners earn a 50 dollar scholarship; 3rd Place finishers earn 100 dollars; 2nd place winners get 300 dollars and 1st place winners earn 500 dollars in scholarship money. The winners from our district at the state level are: Laura Bussey/Harris County High School – 1st Place, Cody Moore/Harris County – 2nd Place, Samantha Boren/Harris County – Hon. Mention and Shamiya Billings/New Quitman County School – Hon. Mention.

State 2nd place winner in the high school category, Cody Moore with Gov. Nathan Deal.

April 14, 2015: Gov. Nathan Deal and 1st place high school art winner Laura Bussey.

To further acknowledge our region’s art and manufacturing winners Columbus Technical College, in partnership with the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce, held a special breakfast on April 23 at Green Island Country Club. Each art winner, whether regionally or at the state level, received a 50 dollar gift certificate and a framed copy of his or her artwork. On the local level, the winners are: Markeis Couch/Central Middle School Talbotton – 1st Place and Shamaya Cobb/New Quitman City Elementary – 1st Place.

Front row (l to r): Laura Bussey, Samantha Boren, Cody Moore, Markeis Couch, Shamaya Cobb and Shamiya Billings. Back row: Foundation Trustee Kike Seda, Local Board Member Joe “Slade” Johnson, CTC President Lorette M. Hoover.

On the actual manufacturing side of things, Columbus Technical College recognized Richland Rum as its small manufacturer of the year, Swift Spinning and Oneda as medium-sized manufacturers and Pratt & Whitney as the large manufacturer for 2015.

Front row (l to r): TCSG Board Member Frank S. “Chunk” Newman, CTC President Lorette M. Hoover, Natalie Guthrie/Caduceus Occupational Medicine, Charles Harp/Swift Spinning Inc., David Edwards/Oneda Corp., Karin Vonk/Richland Rum, Stephanie Maiorana and Tom Bode/Pratt & Whitney and Bill Murphy, Columbus Chamber of Commerce.

Back row: Latesha Isbell/Georgia Power, Paul Meadows/Batson-Cook, Victor Morales and Mike Cleghorn/Pratt & Whitney and Mark Maholick/Hall, Booth, Smith PC Attorneys.

Columbus Technical College would like to thank the talented young men and women in the art contest and our manufacturers for representing our service area so well.