Comments
“This is really an exciting but challenging time for us in the state of Georgia, and it is a wonderful time for you to come together as a team to celebrate here in Savannah another very successful calendar year for technical training in Georgia — and certainly the successes that you’re achieving in so many ways are a great encouragement to all of us in state government.”
“When I first went to the legislature, all our problems were problems of lack of progress. That’s what we talked about. We couldn’t pay the school teachers enough; we didn’t have transportation that we needed in the state. You can go right on down the line. When we go to the 2002 session, all the problems are going to be problems of progress. They’re going to be dirty air, they’re going to be dirty water, and they’re going to be not being able to provide enough school rooms in public schools and the technical colleges. We’ve got all kinds of transportation problems in certain parts of the state. Let me say this to you: We’ve had an unprecedented prosperity. There are 2 million more people in this state than there were in 1990, almost 2 million more people. We’re the fourth fastest growing state in the country, fastest growing state east of the Rockies.”
“We’ve seen a lot of changes in Georgia. It is a wonderful problem to have.The fact that we’re prospering and all our neighboring states are not prospering is not an accident. Georgia is a pro-business state. It’s reflected in our budget. It’s reflected in everything we do.”
“It’s difficult for me in my job to be neutral when it comes to conveying information about Georgia because I do know that we are the most fiscally sound state in the nation. You can look — categorically — at what Georgia has done [and] it’s better than the other southeastern states, it’s better than any other state in the union, and it is absolutely a direct result of the difficult decisions that these gentlemen right here have made over the years. They have made tough choices, and they have made them well.”
“All of us in state government are excited to see the growth of technical education in our state. It could not come at a more important time for our state and our nation. Today, in November of 2001, we are a nation at war. We are a nation that is challenged in many, many, disturbing ways. But the story of our country and its success through the centuries is the same. It is the strength of the American people and your work in technical education. Your work with our technical college network strengthens our people, and it is their strength, their improved skills, and their improved education that are going to make them an even more viable part of our American economy. And, in the end, it will be our financial strength, our economic strength, the success of our businesses, and the success of our employers and our employees that will set us apart and make us able to meet any challenge in the world.”
“Our technical college network is a great, great place to make a difference, not only in the future of your community and the future of this state, but also in the future of our nation as we strengthen our economy and move forward to meet the challenges ahead.”
Georgia is in a stronger position [than many states] because we have had a long period of time where the Georgia General Assembly and a series of governors [focused] on strengthening our economy in some very key areas, and, certainly, central to all of that has been workforce development and preparedness.
[Challenges we have today] pale in comparison to some of the challenges financially and budgetwise that your system met during the decade of the 90’s, when we were looking at changes in our budget and priorities in Georgia. Those were times that really challenged every department in state government. Those times were a period where technical education really met the challenge. . . .
We are going to stay focused on programs in state government that can create jobs in the private sector and protect jobs in the private sector. To me, that is the education budget, that’s the college and university budget, that’s the technical and adult education budget, that is the department of industry, trade, and tourism budget, and that’s the community affairs budget where you’re working on the issues of community development and you’re working on the issues of economic development.
[People all over Georgia have similar needs, whether they live in rural or urban areas.] They need a good education. They need technical training. They need a safe community to live in, work in. They need to have the vision to understand that their state government is actively working to protect the jobs that are there and to bring more jobs to that community.
As we look at the challenges of Georgia — rural Georgia, inner-city Georgia, every part of Georgia that is facing the challenges of a war in our nation, facing the challenge of a slowing economy for the first time in many years in our country — we have to realize that real success and real progress are going to come community by community. . . . I thank you for the leadership you provide at the local level — leadership that is unselfish, that is focused on community improvement, that is focused on economic opportunity for every citizen, that is focused on making sure that every citizen in your community has access to the programs that you’re working so hard to provide at your technical college.
Thank you for your support of technical education.
|
