Gov. Bill Lee meets with officials to discuss Tennessee vocational training

WHITEVILLE, Tenn. — Gov. Bill Lee and elected representatives from across West Tennessee converged Friday on the campus of the Tennessee College of Applied Technology at Whiteville. The topic of discussion was how to better serve students of Tennessee who are considering a vocational career.

“We can do that by changing the way high school looks to look more towards vocational, technical and agricultural education, combined with the things we already do in our great public schools,” Gov. Lee said.

One of Lee’s biggest initiatives is to make Tennessee students more prepared to enter the workforce. Friday’s meeting was crucial in communicating that message.

“It’s something that’s near and dear to my heart, and we had a great roundtable conversation with community leaders here,” Gov. Lee said.

President of the TCAT Whiteville campus and TCAT Jackson campus, Jeff Sisk, spoke highly of the governor’s commitment to the cause.

“… he has a keen understanding of what the needs are for workforce development and skilled trades, and it’s not just talk — he’s backing it up with grant opportunities for technical colleges and K-12 schools,” Sisk said.

Gov. Lee and others refer to the Highway 64 corridor as an area of job growth and high potential.

“It’s a great community in the middle of rural Tennessee, which has been a focus of mine as well. What happens in rural Tennessee profoundly affects every Tennessean,” Lee said.

Coming soon, students in West Tennessee will have more opportunities in these fields.

“We’ve got a lot of great dual enrollment programs we’re starting up, with both Middleton High School, Bolivar Central High School, we’re going to do some programs with the jails, training inmates for manufacturing jobs, things like that,” Sisk said.

Gov. Lee says his background in agriculture is what inspired him to make vocational training a priority.