echnical education has always been the fast track to independence. It involves training in the kind of real skills that the market demands, and is always focused on the desired goal: jobs.

But technical education also instills the kind of confidence and self-worth that often inspires an even greater ambition: start your own business.

For many years, technical college graduates have found that their technical training was the perfect foundation for starting their own businesses. Students in fields ranging from healthcare and information technology to welding and graphic design graduate from their programs and discover that there are customers out there willing to pay for their services. The only obstacle between these technical college graduates and the independent life of a small businessperson is the knowledge needed to develop, market and manage a new venture.

That’s why, in recent years, Georgia’s Technical College System has begun implementing new programs specifically designed to give ambitious entrepreneurs the knowledge and training they need to launch a new business. These programs have been designed to quickly give an aspiring entrepreneur training in developing business plans, mapping out marketing strategies, untangling the process of incorporating and understanding tax laws.

In this publication, “Promoting Entrepreneurship,” we have highlighted some of the ways in which Georgia’s Technical College System helps support new businesses, and how we help take motivation, inspiration and ambition and transform them into a real revenue stream.