Education that prepares students to compete for jobs in the global economy must be a top priority for business, industry and education leaders, Georgia Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle warned a crowd of nearly 200 at the College and Career Academy Summit this week, according to the Rome News-Tribune.

“Each of us has the chance to shape what this economy and what this future for all of us is going to look like,” Cagle said Thursday. “It’s a huge responsibility… Quite honestly I don’t think there is anything, as a public policy maker, that is more important today than the education system in this state.”

The three-day event featured the theme “Business and Education Partnerships: Success in Action” and was hosted by Floyd County College and Career Academy and Georgia Northwestern Technical College. Leaders were scheduled to address workforce skills gaps in health care, technology, manufacturing and energy amidst a growing regional interest in the career academy movement.

According to Rome News-Tribune, Cagle said that significant economic opportunities have been rising in the U.S. because of events occurring in Asia and Europe, companies such as the manufacturing giant Caterpillar Inc. and Baxter, a pharmaceutical company, are bringing work opportunities to Georgia.

“What is interesting about those industries is that they are all located where there was a college and career academy,” Cagle said. “We’re leading the nation in workforce development because of … what we’re doing with our college and career academies.”

Floyd County Schools College and Career Academy have experienced a “powerful transformation” that has encouraged partnerships between secondary and postsecondary education, and the business community, according to a Floyd County Schools news release. On Friday, discussions were designed to focus on the enhancement and expansion of career academy development.

Erin Uy, Communications and Marketing Manager