The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
New program brewing at Chattahoochee Tech
College tapping into need for workers in growing industry.
Almost five years ago, Frances Carlson, associate dean of Public and Professional Services at Chattahoochee Tech, had an inkling that the state’s craft brewing industry needed some support.
“After we did some investigation, it became clear that the brewing industry in Geor- gia was going to grow, and it will be good for Georgia’s economy if it does,” Carlson said. “Any time you have a production, you have marketers, taproom staff, managers, social media peo- ple, supplies and on and on that makes a huge eco- nomic impact. But no one in Georgia was preparing people to work in that industry.”
A 2020 report from the Brewers Association supports Carlson’s idea.
It showed the number of craft beer enterprises in Georgia increasing steadily from 21 in 2011 to 130 in 2020, with no signs of slow- ing down.
Since the technical college system’s mission is to prepare people to enter the work- force, Carlson floated the idea of creating a course to train craft brewery employees.
“Once I brought it up, I found other people were thinking the same thing,” she said. “But there was no formal path to those jobs. In my experience, craft brew- eries are local and relatively small, and they do a great job of training people on how to brew and how the business operates. But that has to be exhausting not to be able to find people who have a base of learning.”
The point was brought home to her at a 2017 event hosted by industry represen- tatives after Georgia passed a bill allowing breweries to sell their own products.
“The owner of Red Hare Brewing (in Marietta) said he need qualified people to work in this industry, and
that validated that we were on the right path,” Carlson said.
In 2018, as part of an investigation into the feasibility of a brewing program, Carlson reviewed established courses at two-year schools in North Carolina and visited beer operations in Cobb County. A curriculum was designed for both diploma and associate degree programs. Brew- ing and Fermentation Production Technology was approved by the Technical College System board in January 2020, and an August 2021 start date was set.
Then came COVID-19. While enrollment was put on hold, the construction of a four-barrel brew lab went forward, and a lead instructor, Steve Anderson, was hired. Finally this fall, the program will launch with 24 students on the North Metro campus in Acworth.
“This one’s truly new for the whole system across the state,” said Jason Tanner, Chattahoochee’s executive vice president for instruc- tion, who also recently announced the debut of new programs in paralegal studies and aviation main- tenance. “We never had the qualified faculty or facility before.”
Carlson is quick to point out that students won’t be brewing beer for produc- tion. “We are an alcohol-free campus,” she said. Tanner’s take is pragmatic. “We will have to pour out a lot,” he said. “But a lot of it probably won’t be very drinkable.”