Middle Georgia Technical College vice president to retire

A top administrator at Middle Georgia Technical College will retire April 1.

Jim Newton, vice president of economic development at the school, is stepping down after 17 years. Before working with Middle Georgia Tech, he spent 26 years in the Air Force, until he retired in 1992.

Newton played a role in bringing business training to people in the area, including the state Department of Corrections and Robins Air Force Base and careers in dental hygiene and radiation technology. The training has been instrumental for local economic development, he said.

He also was involved in the initial planning, design and construction of the college’s revamped campus on Cohen Walker Drive during the 1990s, from its previous location on Corder Road.

“I have a lot of good feelings on Middle Georgia Technical College and the technical college system in Georgia as a whole,” he said. “They’re doing things right with the focus on workforce development. I’m hoping that when I’m gone they’ll keep that focus.”