Wallace State Expands Powerful Partnerships Program With 12 New Employers

HANCEVILLE, Ala. — Wallace State Community College welcomed 12 new businesses to its Powerful Partnerships program, a no-cost, mutually beneficial initiative that provides the college with valuable support and insight from local businesses and industries, while offering participating employees services and tuition discounts for their employees. 

“The support you give us as employers is incredibly important to do what we do to prepare the workforce of tomorrow,” said Wallace State President Dr. Vicki Karolewics. “You’re important to helping us align curriculum to your needs, important to us to help provide work-based learning experiences for our students. You are important to us for making us who we are as a community college, because we’re the community’s college, so we want to provide a workforce that is suited to what your needs are. And you help us by committing to certain levels of wages for our students.”

Simone Grant, Workforce Training Center and Powerful Partnerships Specialist, welcomed the companies to the program. 

“We are excited to have you join a growing network of employers, organizations and community leaders who share a common goal: investing in people and building a stronger workforce for our region,” Grant said. 

“At Wallace State, we know that education does not happen in isolation,” Grant added. “The most successful workforce development efforts occur when employers and educators work together. Our students bring ambition, talent and a desire to succeed. Our industry partners bring real-world expertise, career opportunities and insight into the skills needed in today’s workplace. When those pieces come together, everyone benefits. That is the heart of Powerful Partnerships.”

Among the benefits offered through the no-cost Powerful Partnerships program are tuition discounts, workforce training opportunities and educational advancement opportunities. 

“It also strengthens your connection to the talented graduates emerging from our academic, technical, health science and workforce programs every year,” Grant added. 

Cindy and Jeremy Mize of Mize Electric said one of the benefits that drew them to the Powerful Partnerships is the tuition discount offered to their employees. “We have several employees that are very dedicated and we hope to see them come up here,” Cindy Mize said. 

Customized training is what drew Chris Armstrong of Mid-America Engine to take part in the Powerful Partnerships program. 

Armstrong said he has about 30 employees and the company is changing its business focus from diesel engine repair to power generation.

“We’re getting more into the packaging, more into specializing,” he said. “Our niche now is doing stuff that other people won’t do, can’t do, or say can’t be done.”

He’s looking forward to customized training for his employees in welding, machining, electrical and more.

“As this progresses, the executive staff has already got a plan. Probably next year, I’m going to start looking into other aspects of our personnel – our marketing staff, our officer personnel, logistics,” Armstrong. “So, this is just the beginning.”

With these additions, Wallace State’s Powerful Partnerships program now includes more than 50 business and industry partners across the region. 

The companies who most recently joined the Powerful Partnerships program include:

• Cullman County Tourism
• Cullman Regional Medical Center
• Diversicare of Arab
• Eagle Custom Gate & Fence
• Hanceville Nursing & Rehab Center
• Homtex
• Louis Allis, LLC
• Mid-America Engine
• Mize Electric
• People’s Bank
• Tier 1 Marketing
• Wellstone, Inc.

For more information about Powerful Partnerships, contact Simone Grant at 256.352.7453 or simone.grant@wallacestate.edu. 

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About Wallace State

Wallace State Community College (Ala.), a member of the Alabama Community College System, is a comprehensive community college in north central Alabama offering more than 200 options in academic, health and technical programs of study leading to an associate degree, certificate or transfer, as well as workforce-credit training and adult education. An Achieving the Dream Leader College, nationally recognized by the Aspen Institute as a Rising Star for the 2025 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, ranked by Southern Business and Development among the Top 3 institutions in the South for workforce development, named a Center of Excellence by the National League for Nursing and the National Security Administration, rated the Top Online Community College in Alabama, a Military Friendly Institution and an All-Steinway School, Wallace State is an outstanding place for students to pursue their education and career goals. Classes are offered online and on campus, day, evening and on weekends, with numerous start dates each year. Visit Wallace State’s beautiful main campus located on 300-acres in Hanceville, Ala., our satellite location in downtown Oneonta, Ala., find us online at www.wallacestate.edu, or call 256.352.8000.

Mandy Shaddrix, left, of Diversicare of Arab, was on hand of the signing of the Powerful Partnerships contract with Wallace State President Dr. Vicki Karolewics.

Chris Armstrong, right, of Mid-America Engine, was on hand of the signing of the Powerful Partnerships contract with Wallace State President Dr. Vicki Karolewics.

Cindy, left, and Jeremy Mize, right, , were on hand of the signing of the Powerful Partnerships contract with Wallace State President Dr. Vicki Karolewics, center.

Jenny Clark of People’s Bank, right, was on hand of the signing of the Powerful Partnerships contract with Wallace State President Dr. Vicki Karolewics.

Mason Sanders, left, was on hand of the signing of the Powerful Partnerships contract with Wallace State President Dr. Vicki Karolewics.

Constance Abbe, left, of Wellstone, Inc., was on hand of the signing of the Powerful Partnerships contract with Wallace State President Dr. Vicki Karolewics.