Veterans and their families in the Metro Atlanta area soon will have access to educational, employment, and support services offered through the Superior Plumbing Veterans Education Career Transition Resource (VECTR) Center, which is being established at Chattahoochee Technical College.
Chattahoochee Tech celebrated this initiative with a ceremony held Thursday, April 14, for state and local leaders at the college’s Marietta Campus. Included among the featured speakers at this event was Col. Patricia Ross, who serves as Commissioner for the Georgia Department of Veterans Service. “For those men and women who so selflessly served our nation,” said Ross, “we owe them no less than to help them transition to the civilian workforce.” The ceremony also featured remarks from Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) Commissioner Greg Dozier, who noted that TCSG is the only Purple Heart education system in the nation.
Following the ceremony, Chattahoochee Tech hosted a tour of the building that is currently undergoing an extensive, $2.25 million renovation to house the Superior Plumbing VECTR Center. This facility will serve as a gateway for veterans and their families who are transitioning into post-secondary educational institutions and into the civilian workforce. The TCSG State Board approved naming this facility the Superior Plumbing VECTR Center in honor of a $500,000 donation presented in 2021 by Superior Plumbing President and TCSG State Board Member Jay Cunningham to the Chattahoochee Tech Foundation.
Superior Plumbing and Jay Cunningham have been instrumental in the growth of Chattahoochee Tech over the years, according to Chattahoochee Tech President Dr. Ron Newcomb. As one example of their support, they donated $75,000 in 2019 for the renovation of the college’s Jim Cunningham Veteran Services Center, which is named for Jay Cunningham’s father, a U.S. Army Veteran. It will be relocated to the Superior Plumbing VECTR Center, where it will continue to provide a supportive environment for the college’s vast student population of veterans and military-affiliated students. One in 12 students at Chattahoochee Tech are either veterans or family members of veterans.
“Superior Plumbing and the Cunningham family are proud to be part of the VECTR Center journey,” said Cunningham. “The families of veterans years from now will be better off because of the work being done by the folks in this room. It will be much more possible for these families to succeed.”
