In an inaugural multi-state collaboration, Cleveland State Community College will support Thrive Regional Partnership (Thrive) and Georgia Tech’s Center for Spatial Visualization and Planning in the development of the Greater Chattanooga Freight Hub, an open source database to understand freight capacity and explore multimodal freight transportation in the tri-state region.
“This collaboration truly reflects the value of approaching a challenge across boundaries,” said Bridgett Massengill, president/CEO of Thrive Regional Partnership. “We are pleased to partner with two educational institutions in two different states on critical industry research that will benefit students, companies and communities across the tri-state.”
This collaboration is concurrent with the development of a Logistics and Supply Chain Management degree program at Cleveland State Community College, designed to connect students of the region to career opportunities in the transportation industry. Under the project leadership of Thrive and Georgia Tech, a student data technician from Cleveland State Community College will support the creation and maintenance of the Greater Chattanooga Freight Hub.
The GCFH data platform will be a foundational resource to the degree program, by providing practical opportunities for CSCC students to explore and learn data analysis and visualization, as it supports regional communities and industries in real time.
Dr. William Seymour, Cleveland State president, said, “We are proud to be selected for this important work, which will benefit local industry through the creation of the Greater Chattanooga Freight Hub, while simultaneously providing a much-needed Logistics and Supply Chain Management program. Thrive should be commended for their ability to address the region’s logistical challenges while also enhancing the creation of the new program, thereby benefiting our students.”
“This is a unique opportunity for Cleveland State to partner with Thrive and Georgia Tech to address a real-world, critical issue in the logistics arena by applying data analysis and visualization techniques,” said John Squires, CSCC’s executive director of Advancement and Planning.
Both the Greater Chattanooga Freight Hub data platform and the Logistics and Supply Chain Management degree program are scheduled to launch in the fall of 2022.
Dr. Barsha Pickell, CSCC vice president of Academic Affairs, stated, “We look forward to working closely with regional experts and Georgia Tech faculty to create a cutting-edge program that meets the current and future needs of our industry partners.”
Susan Webb-Curtis, CSCC dean of Business and Healthcare, added, “We plan to leverage this project for our students in order to impact their experience and create a world-class Logistics and Supply Chain Management program.”