GCSU and Fouts Bros announce educational partnership for regional workforce readiness

G eorgia College is partnering with Fouts Bros in Milledgeville to help increase workforce development and readiness in the region.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed by President Cathy Cox and Fouts Bros CEO and President Scott Edens Monday, May 13, at the Fouts Bros facility located at 138 Roberson Mill Road in Milledgeville.

The MOU fosters a partnership between the College of Business & Technology and Fouts Bros. The family-owned company builds fire trucks, tankers and other emergency vehicles used in fighting fires around the world.

"We are proud as a university to partner with Fouts Bros both for their benefit to show the local community what intellectual capital we have, and for our students' benefit of experiential learning," said President Cox. "These students and graduates speak for themselves. We hope that Fouts Bros will find this to be a big win-win partnership in so many ways because we're really grateful for this opportunity and for all the things that will grow out of it."

Fouts Bros is a family-owned company that builds fire trucks, tankers and other emergency vehicles used in fighting fires around the world.

The mutually beneficial agreement ensures growth of an educated workforce that's ready to fill jobs in Central Georgia. The partnership creates a steady pipeline of highly talented and skilled applicants for jobs at Fouts Bros, as well.

"This collaboration elevates the opportunities for those in both our university community and the broader Milledgeville-Baldwin County area," said Dr. Micheal Stratton, dean of the J. Whitney Bunting College of Business & Technology.

"We have some of the brightest students in the state, if not the south," Stratton continued. "We are thinking about Fouts as a laboratory for our students to experiment and engage with professionals in the field, across disciplines, whether it's marketing, or tech, or accounting or finance. I think it is going to be very special for them to learn as they go, and to learn from folks in the field."

The arrangement provides experiential learning, research and engagement opportunities for students and faculty. Through the university's Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and individual classes, students will have new options to put theory into practice.

In addition:

• Business faculty will act as consultants, helping Fouts Bros address research challenges.
• Students from a variety of disciplines will participate in teams from majors, like marketing, finance, business technology and management information systems.
• They will collaborate with Fouts Bros staff on existing and emerging ventures. These project-based learning opportunities will be supervised by faculty experts.
• Semester and summer internships at Fouts Bros will give juniors and seniors paid additional training, while providing additional personnel for ongoing projects.
• Fouts may also hire a lead intern through the university's Double Bobcat Program to ensure smooth transfers of responsibilities.
• Fouts Bros leaders will facilitate a professional development workshop for students as part of our GC Column Society monthly series.

President Cathy Cox and Fouts Bros President and CEO Scott Edens sign the MOU.

Scott Edens said of the company's Georgia College interns, "We're currently just a little over 300 employees and adding about eight to 10 per month. We're trying to recruit as many people to stay in Milledgeville. Not all the options have to be in Atlanta or New York or somewhere else. There are options here. The GCSU interns are out on the floor, they're in the office, we've already got them activated. And I can't wait to get more here."

Grant Motley, a junior MIS major from Canton, Georgia, is one of Fouts Bros' new interns from the College of Business and Technology.

Fouts Bros has a much faster turn-around time than most large scale manufacturers for their custom emergency services vehicles.

"It's a lot that I've learned in my MIS classes and now seeing it firsthand. The real world experience has been great because it feels like when you're in the classroom sometimes you wonder 'Am I ever going use this one day?' and then getting here and actually seeing it firsthand," Motley said.

Other parts of the agreement include giving Fouts Bros preferred access to career events at Georgia College and putting them on the judges' panel for the university's yearly "Elevator Pitch Competition," which gives students 60-seconds to summarize their skill and abilities.

"This is only the beginning of a strong partnership that has limitless opportunities for building a more resilient economy and workforce," Stratton said.

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