Coca-Cola donates $1M to Georgia technical colleges

TIFTON, Ga. (WALB) - Coca-Cola Bottling United saw fit to make a million-dollar donation to technical colleges across Georgia. It’s for ensuring that the next generation of drivers gets the education they need. It will also address the driver shortage and provide job opportunities.

Georgia’s trucking industry workers decreased by 6% since the pandemic. Nearly a third of the trucking industry workforce is over the age of 55.

Coca-Cola Company says they feel that it’s key that CDL driver training programs should be properly funded to help students excel in this workforce.

Southern Regional Technical College’s (SRTC) campus in Moultrie has a dire need of CDL instructors. President Jim Glass says the funds will be used to hire two new employees.

“We take great pride in our college program SRTC, we graduated close to 130 drivers last year, and the great part about this grant that we received yesterday is that will be able to hire more instructors which in turn can help us bring in more students,” he says.

Businesses and consumers rely heavily on Georgia’s trucking industry, the industry moves more than 435 million tons of goods across the state each year. This donation will help expand each of the school’s programs.

On May 26, Coca-Cola and SRTC in Tifton will host an entertainment day that gives the community an opportunity to hear more about truck driving job opportunities for those interested.

Copyright 2022 WALB. All rights reserved.