Good Times and Plenty of Green at Shamrock the Block
Shamrock the Block - 3rd Thursday Downtown Sandersville was a blast! We saw tons of shopping, dining, dancing, laughing and smiles! Thank you to Sandersville Main Street GA for allowing the Chamber of Commerce to partner on this event.
Shamrock the Block was brought to you by
Queensborough National Bank & Trust, so thank any of the Queensborough folks next time you see them!
Also many thanks to:
Farmers Market Merchants
Countless
#ShopWacoFirst Businesses that had extended hours, festive specials and served as shamrock hunt locations!
Michael Mantey and band for awesome tunes!
Cindy Sheram & 4-H for tons of kids fun.
City of Sandersville Public Works for a festive green fountain
#ShopWacoFirst Committee members for handling the shamrock hunt table!
Stay tuned as the Sandersville Main Street GA Third Thursday events will continue quarterly during 2022.
City of Sandersville
WCHS Students Introduced to Local Education & Career Opportunities During WACO Works
Forty students from Washington County High School (WCHS) participated in Waco Works at Oconee Fall Line Technical College (OFTC), an event geared toward exposing and informing high school students of local education and career opportunities in Washington County, Thursday, March 17.
Waco Works is sponsored by the Washington County Chamber of Commerce who received an EMC Electric Foundation Grant which allowed the coordination and creation of Waco Works with OFTC, WCHS and several key industries within Washington County.
To read more, click here.
Youth Leadership Class of 2021-2022 Completes Final Session
This past week Youth Leadership had its final session of the program year. YL’s started off with a breakfast with local government officials at Country Buffet, it was a great opportunity for the students to ask questions and learn about different roles in the community. The students then departed for the economic development bus tour lead by Jayson Johnston, executive director of the Development Authority. Students ended the day at Kaolin Field preparing for the program graduation and reviewing the program year. 2021-2022 Youth Leads flew by! Learning and fun had by all.
Technical College System of Georgia names 2022 Adult Education Student of the Year and 2022 Outstanding Adult Education Teacher of the Year
The Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) named the 2022 Dinah Culbreath Wayne Exceptional Adult Georgian in Literacy Education (EAGLE) Award winner for outstanding achievement in the state’s adult education program. Rochelle White from Oconee Fall Line Technical College was named TCSG’s 2022 Adult Education Student of the Year. Devlynn Taylor from Augusta Technical College won the 2022 Outstanding Adult Education Teacher of the Year award.
TCSG State Board Chairman, Trey Sheppard, TCSG Commissioner Greg Dozier, and TCSG Assistant Commissioner for Adult Education, Dr. Cayanna Good, presented the awards during the annual Dinah Culbreath Wayne EAGLE Institute at the Grand Hyatt in Buckhead on March 15.
To read more, click here.
Velatura HIE Corporation announces newest affiliation adding Georgia Regional Academic Community Health Information Exchange
Velatura is a not-for-profit subsidiary of Velatura Public Benefit Corporation that offers affiliation and integration opportunities to health information exchanges (HIEs) and other health care providers and stakeholders across the country. It is one of the largest of its type in the country, connecting more than 500+ healthcare organizations. GRAChIE serves healthcare providers in Georgia, bringing health information from one healthcare professional to another seamlessly connecting health information.
“We are thrilled to integrate GRAChIE into Velatura HIE Corporation,” said Angie Bass, Executive Vice President of Velatura HIE Corporation. “Velatura serves as a health data utility and data exchange for public and private health care stakeholders. Adding GRAChIE to our HIE network will enhance our ability to provide meaningful services and transformative advancements to improve public health and increase interoperability across the nation. GRAChIE shares the same zeal for and commitment to health data interoperability and we are excited to see the growth and transformations that we will do together.”
To read more, click here.
OFTC Supports Local Transportation & Mining Industries with New Instructional Center
Oconee Fall Line Technical College (OFTC) hosted a ribbon cutting for their newly renovated Instructional Center in Sandersville, Wednesday, February 23.
Since its inception, the transportation and mining industries have been a key focus of the college.
“Our goal has always been to support the local economies within our 11-county service area,” shared OFTC President, Erica Harden, “and our emphasis on meeting needs within the transportation industries and through mine safety training is one of the ways we support that mission.”
While the facility has been open since January, the ribbon cutting was a significant event in the history of the college that was worthy of celebrating, Harden shared. “We are thrilled to add the OFTC Instructional Center as a training resource for the college and are looking forward to watching the economic impact it will produce locally in the future,” she said.
While many were involved in the facility project, Harden made special mention to several who were instrumental to its success, including: Representative Mack Jackson, OFTC’s local board of directors and foundation trustees, Mayor Jimmy Andrews and City Council, the Washington County Industrial Development Authority, the Washington County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and Katie Monus and staff, the Washington County Board of Education, Superintendent Ricky Edmonds, Brentwood Head of School Danny Howell, Sheriff Joel Cochran, local industry leaders in trucking and mining, OFTC’s faculty and staff, Trey Sheppard - Chairperson for the state board of technical and adult education, and Chairman Horace Daniel and the Washington County Board of Commissioners.
After the ribbon cutting, attendees toured the facility and enjoyed a boxed lunch.
For more info about OFTC or the college’s Instructional Center in Sandersville, visit
OFTC.edu.
Registered Nurses (RN) and Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN) in Georgia who have allowed their license to lapse or become inactive can reenter the nursing field through a short-term nursing reentry program developed by the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG).
Oconee Fall Line Technical College (OFTC) is now one of nine TCSG colleges to offer this program to nurses with lapsed or inactive licenses. This program is offered through OFTC’s Office of Economic Development’s Continuing Education division.
For more details or info on how to apply, visit
OFTC.edu/nursereentry or contact OFTC ADN Instructor, Jodi Warren at jwarren@oftc.edu or Jodi Warren 478-240-5146.
Mawson Infrastructure Ribbon Cutting
The ribbon has been cut at Mawson Infrastructure! The Chamber was honored to be part of the ceremony to welcome this business into Washington County.
Mawson Infrastructure Group operates Bitcoin Mining Facilities and Digital Asset Infrastructure across the USA and Australia.
To learn more about Mawson please visit :
https://mawsoninc.com/migi/
STAR Students
We are so proud of our STARS! This past Friday we held the STAR Breakfast and celebrated Libby Mathis and Cameran Francis, as well as Leigh Anne Brooker and Susan Brantley. These two students join a long list of STARS dating back to 1959. We are excited to name Libby Mathis as County STAR student, and she will represent our county at the regional level. A huge congratulations to these students and teachers!