Quick Start Serves Companies Across the State

Rockmart.......... The Jefferson Southern Corporation celebrated its ground-breaking last fall in Rockmart, Ga. The plant will employ approximately 100 people, manufacturing Honda automobile body parts for the new Honda plant in Alabama. Pictured are (l to r) Toshinao Urabe, Counsel General of Japan; Toshitsugu Kikuchi, President, Kikuchi Co., Ltd.; Koichi Miyazaki, President, Jefferson Southern Corporation; Naohiro Takao, Managing Director, Takao Kinsoku Kogyo Co., Ltd.; Kozo Kaga, President, Jefferson Industries Corporation; and Senator Nathan Dean. Glenville.......... Duramatic Products, a division of Rotary Corporation, signed a Training Plan Agreement with Quick Start and Southeastern Technical College on Dec. 20, 2000. After completing a 25,000 square-foot expansion last fall, the manufacturer of rotary mower blades was able to increase its employment by 30 people. Pictured seated at the signing are (l to r) Ed Nelson, president of Rotary Corp.; Marla Lowe, director of southern operations, Quick Start; Dr. Cathy Meehan, president of Southeastern Technical College; and Dennis Lamb, vice president of Rotary Corp. and general manager of Duramatic Products. Standing are (l to r) David Yarbrough, vice president of economic development at Southeastern Technical College; Dennis Epps, director of institutional effectiveness, STC; and John Brewton, training coordinator, Quick Start.

Toccoa.......... Chris Winkel (left), Caterpillar's facility manager in Toccoa, welcomes Dan Murphy, vice president of performance engine products division, from headquarters in Peoria, Ill. The Toccoa plant is the fifth plant Caterpillar has opened in Georgia, and it will employ approximately 60 people in full operation. On Feb. 2, 2001, Caterpillar welcomed approximately 100 people for a Grand Opening. The Toccoa plant will be making metal-to-metal face seals for use in "Cat" machines manufactured around the world. Caterpillar, the world's largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment and natural gas and diesel engines, opened its fifth facility in Georgia on Feb. 2, 2001. The company, which employs 66,000 people worldwide, has found Georgia and specifically Quick Start to be especially good partners in the company's growth. "We're excited to be doing business in this community," said Facility Manager Chris Winkel at the Grand Opening in Toccoa. "Since we first announced plans to locate here (September 1999), this community has joined together to make us feel welcome." He emphasized favorable business conditions and the skilled workforce available in Stephens County as reasons for Caterpillar's decision to come to Toccoa. Quick Start, working with nearby North Georgia Technical College in Clarkesville, was responsible for the first class of trainees, who began work on Feb. 5th, 2001. In October 2000, Caterpillar also hosted a 75th Anniversary Celebration at its Griffin facility, which employs approximately 500 people in manufacturing power modules and electrical switch gears, among other things. In addition to Toccoa and Griffin, Caterpillar has facilities in Jefferson, LaGrange, and Thomasville.

For a reprint of the original article in Adobe Acrobat PDF format, click here.

---