County first in state to get Advanced Manufacturing Award
The Marshall County School District is the first in the state to get advanced manufacturing technology for the Eddie Dixon Career & Technology Center.
Forrest Bryan said an Equip Mississippi grant was funded to locate eight work stations in the Dixon center. This equipment gives Marshall County students hands on experience in advanced manufacturing.
“This is what we decided to do with the $140,000 grant,” Byran said.
“The grant was competitive and open to all CTE centers across the state,” he said.
“They had to write for it.” Trinity Franklin of Benton County, who has worked at the Dixon CTC four years, will serve as advanced manufacturing instructor. Tony Shackleford, with Training Consultants of Grenada, will also assist in training Franklin on the equipment.
Chris Estes, owner of Innotek, a company based in Georgia, helped set up the equipment Tuesday, December 16 at the center.
The company will have to do some training and do a program to get some of the applications running so classes can begin in the new year.
“2026 should be a breakout year for us in advanced manufacturing,” Bryan said.
“I’m proud of you,” said Dr. Carrie Skelton, county superintendent of education to Franklin.
“I’m Benton County raised but Marshall County paid,” Franklin said.
She attended Ashland High School, then obtained an associates degree from North East Community College as an Electrical Technician. Then she received certification from Delta Technical College as electrician.
Later Franklin received an associates degree from DeVry College in Information Technology. She is now working on a bachelor’s in Information Technology and cyber security.
Justin Hall, executive director of the Marshall County Industrial Development Authority, said, “These are going to be the tools that are preparing our students for the future workforce — for great careers, great opportunities.
“Automation and this equipment will advance our students for careers in advanced manufacturing. This is the key.”
Bryan said getting kids, starting in the 7th or eighth grade, talking about advanced manufacturing is the goal.
“Advanced manufacturing is not cutting boards or welding,” he said. “When you walk into the world of real manufacturing, this is what you see, programmed logic controllers, processors. There are a lot of ancillary things around that, but you have many different inputs, and based on information, it will produce outputs. It’s called process control.
“In advanced manufacturing, process control is the way out into the real world. Nobody else in the state has this. So, this is exciting for Marshall County. Marshall County is the hot-bed of economic development.
“We’ve got to start bringing these jobs in. Who is going to educate our kids. This is a hightech world. PLCs (programmable logic controllers) or VFDs (Variable frequency drives) allow us to regulate the motor speed, based on signals in the real world. Everybody’s gotta talk to each other to get this to work.”
(PLCs act as the “brain” by reading input sensors and switches, to execute programmed logic in continuous scan cycle and controls outputs like motors and valves, for enhanced reliability, flexibility, and efficiency in harsh environments. VFDs are electrical devices that control speed, torque, and direction of AC electric motors by varying the frequency and voltage of the power supply to optimize process controls on pumps, fans, compressors and conveyors. The VFD extends the life of equipment by reducing stress and allowing for soft starts/stops.)
Advanced manufacturing has many inner working parts, from switches, to sensors to electric.
“Its so much,” Bryan said. “You take small bites out of an elephant. This is the elephant in this room. You start with kids in 9th grade, and they can go to $120,000 a year. These are life-changing salaries.”
“You can find what input is missing to slow down the flow,” he said. “We gotta get our kids to think this way.”
“You got me excited again, said Tony Shackleford, with Training Consultants of Grenada.
Bryan said you start with teaching kids the basics concepts of electricity, AC and DC currents.
He went back to school at Northwest Community College to learn the maintenance industry. Those students get sent to places to learn more.
In today’s manufacturing world, nobody else in the state except Marshall County has this equipment.
“This is a great place to start,” Bryan said. “Nobody else has this to this level. It’s not vo-tech anymore. It’s Career Tech. Start here and you will be on your way to six figures.”
Bryan said manufacturing needs industrial partners to come into the center and share their knowledge and experience and IT at the community level. “It’s not just CTE for kids, it’s for our community. It’s for everybody,” Bryan said. “Do you have a workforce that supports this job, this factory? These are what companies are asking,” Byran said.
Shelton thanked the guests who helped get the grant and the equipment installed.”I can’t tell you how excited we are to set this up for our kids,” she said. “The sky is the limit.”
“You get problem solving technology,” Byran said. “Team concepts help others to learn. It’s a team thing.”
Hall said there is a lot of diversity in advanced manufacturing. “But it’s all automation, now,” he said. “There’s management, accounting, legal teams.”