Voith, a global technology company, recently presented a check for $1,000 to the West Georgia Technical College Foundation to support WGTC student scholarships.

The Germany-based company – which has a paper fabrics and rolls plant in Austell – is celebrating its 150th year in business by giving back to several community stakeholders.

“Our theme for this 150th year is putting a program in place so that we can have 150 more successful years,” said Ronnie Hines, operations manager of Voith Paper Fabric & Roll. “Qualified employees are essential to making that happen, and we’ve seen a real deficit in the workforce over the past few years when it comes to the availability of machinists and mechanics. Anything we can do to support schools like West Georgia Tech is a win-win for everyone because we can ensure that we will have more qualified employees who can carry us into the next 150 years.”

Kim Learnard, Vice President of Institutional Advancement at West Georgia Tech, was on hand for the check presentation at the Austell plant, also enjoying a tour of the facility.

“We are very pleased to have Voith as new partners as we work to train a qualified workforce,” Learnard said. “The average unmet financial need for our students each semester is about $471, so a donation like this will go a long way toward making sure at least two of our students can graduate with the training they need. We appreciate Voith for celebrating its 150th year by giving back to the community, and we look forward to partnering with this amazing company in the future.”