FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr and a delegation of leaders representing NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association, the Mississippi Public Service Commission, Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, Jones County Junior College, the Pascagoula/Gautier School District and SBA Communications Corporation participated in a series of workforce development-themed events held Thursday on Mississippi’s Gulf Coast.
The morning started with a workforce development-centric breakfast meeting hosted by Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College at the school’s Harrison County campus. Attendees listened to presentations from Commissioner Carr; Mississippi Public Service Commission Chairman Dane Maxwell; NATE Workforce Consultant Dr. Gemma Frock; Wane Rodolfich, Superintendent of the Pascagoula/Gautier School District; Dr. Mary Graham, President of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College; Dr. Jonathan Woodward, Executive Vice President of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and Dr. Jesse Smith, President of Jones County Junior College. Attendees also toured the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College Biloxi campus.
NATE said the meeting and tour were important next steps in the association’s collaboration with Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College to establish a Wireless Infrastructure Technician Program. NATE is establishing a “turnkey curriculum package” for partner community colleges and technical institutes to use to start programs. The activity is part of Carr’s 5G jobs initiative, which centers on standing up community college and trade school programs so that Americans earn the skills needed to land good-paying jobs in the tower and telecom industries. Such programs have been launched in South Carolina, South Dakota, North Carolina, and Oklahoma.
After the college events, NATE member companies MILLERCO and SBA Communications Corporation hosted Carr and other guests at an SBA-owned tower site in Biloxi, Mississippi. Commissioner Carr joined a group of MILLERCO technicians in climbing the tower to perform maintenance duties.
“It was an honor to host Commissioner Carr and industry leaders representing telecom and education today on the Gulf Coast,” said NATE Chairman Jimmy Miller, President of MILLERCO. The “events helped shine a spotlight on both the workforce needs confronting the industry and the tremendous opportunities that a career in our industry provides,” said Miller. “Establishing partnerships with institutions like Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College is an integral part of NATE’s Workforce Development Strategic Plan and today’s meetings helped us move the needle in that direction.”
At the end of the day, Carr traveled to a Dixie Electric Power Association broadband build to discuss the impact of the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund auction in accelerating the deployment of high-speed internet services in rural Mississippi and the challenges of building infrastructure in these areas.
The list of participants included:
FCC
Commissioner Brendan Carr
NATE
Jimmy Miller, NATE Chairman, MILLERCO
John Paul Jones, NATE Vice Chairman, Tower & Turbine Technologies
Kevin Dougherty, NATE Secretary/Treasurer, MILLENNIA Contracting
Gemma Frock, PhD, NATE Workforce Consultant
Mississippi Public Service Commission
Dane Maxwell, Chairman
Caroline Bishop, Public Information Officer
Ryan Frederic, District Director
Brent Baylor, Chief Investigator
Daniel Forde, Policy Director
Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College
Mary Graham, Ph.D, President
Jonathan Woodward, Ph.D, Executive Vice President
Cedric Bradley, Ph.D, Vice President
John Shows, Associate Vice President CC & CTE
Jones County Junior College
Jesse Smith, Ph.D, President
MILLERCO
Jordyn Ladner, Operations Manager
Billy Campos, Safety Director
Daniel Ladner, Lead Tower Technician
Shawn Dean, Lead Tower Technician
Pascagoula/Gautier School District
Wayne Rodolfich, Superintendent
SBA Communications Corporation
David Sams, Vice President Risk Management
Jeremy Buckles, Senior Manager – Safety
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