Southern Arkansas University Tech held its first Future Fit graduation on Thursday, September 17, 2020, at 6:00 pm. Eleven students started the pre-employment course nine-weeks ago, and eleven graduated. The graduates are as follows:

• Ashley Heath- Outstanding Student Award, Helping Hand Award, & Motivation Award
• Stephanie Thompson- Positive Attitude Award
• Jolanda Strickland- Most Improved Student Award
• Zachery Pennington- Leadership Award
• Dewayne Dorris
• Kaylee Hopkins
• James Hoover
• John Lawson
• Stephanie Lawson
• Jayana Reed
• Collin Stinnett

Randy Harper, Dean of Workforce Training and Karmen House, Workforce Coordinator, worked with the industry representatives to deliver the pre-employment training focused on production. The Future Fit program is a pilot under the Arkansas Economic Development Commission (AEDC) and the Arkansas Office of Skills Development (OSD). Eight colleges were picked across the state to deliver Future Fit training, and SAU Tech is the second college of the eight to graduate a class. The grant purchased all the training equipment and provided funds to do the training four times a year.

Dr. Jason Morrison, SAU Tech Chancellor, stated that “It is evident that our options to grow our local workforce are limitless when partnerships between local colleges and the state’s resources get focused in a very determined way. The Arkansas Economic Development Commission, our partners in Highland Park, and SAU Tech’s Workforce Training Division are making a difference with Future Fit. We just witnessed 11 of our residents learn skills that will enable them to go directly to work earning a livable wage with options to continue their training at SAU Tech to earn a degree and advance in their careers. I think everyone who attended was genuinely impressed and hopeful for the graduates as they get ready to go to work.”

With Armtec Defense Technologies and Chris Clack with Lockheed Martin, along with Dr. Jason Morrison, Charles King spoke words of encouragement to the graduates and reminded them that they had a positive future ahead of them if they continued to work hard.

Information about the Future Fit program at SAU Tech is available at

https://www.sautech.edu/workforce-training.

The training was provided through the Future Fit program at no cost to the participants.