After a fundraising campaign that raised over $540,000.00, after a grant application process that secured $500,000.00 and $200,000.00 respectively, after over a year of construction, the dreams of numerous Butts County citizens, business leaders, educators, civic groups, churches and local government officials are about to be realized with the Grand Opending and Dedication Ceremonies scheduled to be held on October 11, 2007 at the new Griffin Technical College, Butts County Campus site on Highway 16 west of Jackson. The dedication and ribbon cutting ceremony at 11:00 AM will be followed by a self guided tour of the facility and refreshments. State, College and Local Officials will host the dedication ceremony for the school which is schedule to host the fifteenth session of Leadership Butts County this fall with regular Griffin Tech classes to begin winter quarter. Cornerstone to the offerings will be a diesel mechanic program, the first offered by a technical college on the southside of Atlanta. Traditional classes will also be offered and will be announced by GTC later this fall. All Butts County citizens, donors to the project and interested parties are invited to attend the ceremonies.
		PROJECT HISTORY
On September 21, 2005, Governor Sonny Perdue presented a $500,000.00 Community Development Block Grant to local officials and members of the Griffin Tech for Butts County Committee (Picture above, left). Pictured from left to right are Michael Brewer, Committee Co-Chairman, Van G. Whaler, CDBG Grant Applicant, Wayne Brown of Griffin Technical College, Governor Sonny Perdue, Andrew Johnson, Committee Member, County Commissioner Gerald Kersey, Committee Co-Chairman Melinda Atha, Richard Smith and 2005 Chamber President Lynda White. On June 30th, 2006, community leaders officially broke ground on the new 13,500 square foot campus building. Pictured left to right are: 2006 Chamber President Kelly Yielding, Chamber Director Melinda Atha, Commissioner Gerald Kersey, Griffin Technical College Board Vice Chairman Michael Brewer, Commissioner Lester Peek, Development Authority Member Bill Jones, Commission Chairman Eddie Travis, GTC Vice President Wayne Brown, Butts County Administrator Van G. Whaler and Martha Almond, donor of the property through the Louise Simpson Foundation of Jackson. The Griffin Tech for Butts County Committee was the principal steering and fundraising group responsible for securing property, financial and in-kind contributions and publicity for overall project. The committee was comprised of the following individuals all from Butts County: Melinda B. Atha, Co-Chairperson & Executive Director of the Butts County Chamber of Commerce J. Michael Brewer, Co-Chairperson, Director of Operations for Butts County Board of Commissioners Marshall Avett, Publisher, Jackson Progress-Argus Newspaper Bruce E. Bartholomew, President and Chief Operating Officer, McIntosh State Bank of Jackson Pamela Browning, Vice President and Loan Officer, First Georgia Community Bank James A. Freeman, Retired Citizen Wanda Greene, Land Use Manager for Jackson Lake, Georgia Power Company Andrew Johnson, Owner, Construction Materials Services William B. Jones, President and Chief Executive Officer, Jones Petroleum Company Jim Trenton, Retired Citizen Lynda White, Superintendent of Schools, Butts County Board of Education In addition, the Committee wishes to publicly thank Dr. Van G. Whaler, County Administrator of Butts County for his stellar work in preparing and submitting successfully two grants totalling $700,000.00 towards this project and Mrs. Martha Almond for her generous location of the land the facility is on. Without these two individuals, this project would not have been possible.