DALTON, Ga. — September 14, 2019 — Dr. Tremaine Powell, dean of Engineering and Information Technologies at Chattanooga State Community College, both staffed the Chatt State booth at FloorTek and participated in the Future Connections event. Some of his students participated, but Powell and other education professions who attended intend to make FloorTek’s Future Connections networking event a part of the curriculum for next year’s classes.
The inaugural Future Connections drew the HR departments of Engineered Floors, Apache Mills, Qualified Staffing, American Carpet Wholesalers, and Express Employment professionals, and students from Dalton State, Chatt State, Cleveland State, Georgia Northwestern, and Belhaven. This year’s event was strictly networking, but in collaboration with Dr. Powell, next year’s event has the potential to be more immersive and educational.
Lloyd Bryson, vice president of sales & operations for American Carpet Wholesalers also participated in the event. He stated “We secured two very promising leads today. While two may not sound like a lot, I consider it a success. If we had used the usual route of using ads or agencies it could have taken two weeks to get two worthwhile leads.” Bryson also stated that the AFA team did a great job organizing the Future Connections program.
Some of the proposed additions to the next Future Connections include publishing specific job opportunities from industry companies ahead of time, providing career and technical workshops for students, and guided tours of local exhibitor’s booths. Future Connections stands to be an eye-opening event for the next generation of job seekers, as students not only learn which jobs are open, but also more generally what kinds of jobs are available in the floor covering industry.
American Floorcovering Alliance (AFA), a not for profit association created to promote and market the flooring industry, created Future Connections as a means to assist the industry with finding its next generation of workers. Stephanie Manis, executive director of AFA, states “FloorTek is the perfect opportunity to connect future leaders with the current industry. Partnering with local schools in an industry networking environment such as FloorTek is the perfect space to connect students and industry businesses to show what options are available in the industry.”
Posted September 14, 2019
Source: American Floorcovering Alliance (AFA)
