Aki Kan, executive vice president, internal operations at AFLAC , was on hand for the training plan signing held at AFLAC worldwide headquarters in Columbus this August.

Kan noted in his address that the company's biggest asset is the employee. "In Japan money is considered the biggest asset of a company, but in the tradition of AFLAC, we recognize that our biggest asset is our people."

Kan went on to say that this partnership with Columbus Technical College and Quick Start will "give us an overall increased efficiency and a lot more job opportunities in the long run."

"These collaborative efforts will strengthen our company, and I wish to give special thanks to Bob Jones (Columbus Tech's president) and Ken Breeden," said Kan. In addition to Columbus Tech and Quick Start, Kan noted the collaboration included the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce and the Development Authority of Columbus.

Michael Gaymon, president, Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce, noted that in 1989-90, AFLAC participated in the first "white collar" training program in the state.

This signing represents the expansion of AFLAC's workforce by 1,000 people over the next five years, an expansion that requires building a new corporate campus, which will be ready in the spring of 2001 at Corporate Ridge in Columbus.

Jones pointed out that "job growth is what it's all about, and we want to make Columbus the best place for business in Georgia." The college has just upgraded labs to accommodate the training.

AFLAC sells supplemental insurance worldwide and employs just over 2,800 people in the U.S., 2,700 of whom live in Georgia. Quick Start has trained workers for AFLAC's customer call center and corporate office. Quick Start also did a companywide needs assessment study, which included defining jobs and the skills necessary for each task. AFLAC's US-based annual payroll is $98 million. QS