We are honoring Reese Colvin of Southside High School as a 2024 Kenneth Bice Vocational Scholarship recipient for Etowah County.

We are honoring Landon Wise of Jacksonville High School as a 2024 Kenneth Bice Vocational Scholarship recipient for Calhoun County.

We are honoring Alexis Surrett of Etowah High School as a 2024 Kenneth Bice Vocational Scholarship recipient for Etowah County.

We are honoring Naomi Gray of Oxford High School as a 2024 Kenneth Bice Vocational Scholarship Recipient for Calhoun County.

Career tech and vocational trades have long been the backbone of our workforce, but they've also faced their fair share of challenges, particularly in the form of the job skills gap. However, as we look towards 2028, there's a sense of optimism in the air - significant progress is being made in closing this gap.

As we strive toward success, we continue to encourage and actually push for everyone to achieve their goals by getting a four year college education, but at what cost? To indeed be successful, we need every skill. All skills are required to make our world run efficiently, and right now, the skilled trades industry is experiencing a labor shortage, and it's only expected to worsen in the coming years.