ATLANTA — The working relationship between Gulfstream Aerospace and the Georgia Institute of Technology is about to get a lot cozier with the approval Wednesday of an agreement for them to share space in Savannah’s Technology Circle office park.
It’s the first such arrangement in Savannah and one that school and civic leaders hope to repeat with other firms. It also completes the transition away from undergraduate classes that local leaders had lobbied hard to bring to the city.
By sharing nearly 100,000 square feet of offices and classroom space at Tech’s Savannah building, the jet maker will be able to extend the partnership to include faculty exchange, more research and development of additional courses. The school’s 20 or so faculty will continue working there side-by-side with the company’s training staff.
“This partnership reflects our growing collaboration with Georgia Tech and establishes the campus as a central location for research, education and training,” said Jay Neely, Gulfstream’s vice president for law and public affairs.
Gulfstream agreed to pay $63,000 monthly rent along with utilities, maintenance, janitorial and security costs.
The days-long professional-education classes are for the benefit of people already working who want to update their knowledge, according to Nelson Baker, Tech’s dean of professional education.
“Degrees, particularly in the technology spaces, do not last a lifetime,” he said.
The Savannah Economic Development Authority convinced Tech and Gulfstream to consider the arrangement, which is similar to some the school has in other parts of the state.
“One of SEDA’s top priorities is to assist businesses like Gulfstream and local resources like our higher education institutions and help them to be as successful as possible, so we are always thinking of opportunities or efficiencies that could be valuable to them,” said Trip Tollison, SEDA’s president.
Baker said other major Savannah manufacturers like JCB and Great Dane are likely candidates for future professional-education agreements. Great Dane, for instance, recently announced construction of research facilities in Technology Circle, helping to fulfill community plans for the office park to become a hub of manufacturing development.
