Camp Logistics Offers Introduction to Industry
Friday, June 9th, 2023
The University of North Georgia (UNG) will host the inaugural Camp Logistics from June 26-29 on its Dahlonega Campus to expose high school students from Forsyth, Habersham, Hall, Jackson, and Lumpkin counties to the logistics and supply chain management industry. Camp Logistics will be held in the Cottrell Center for Business, Technology & Innovation, which opened in August 2022.
Students in high school during the 2022-23 academic year can apply on the Camp Logistics webpage. There is no cost for participants.
The free camp, which is sponsored by UNG and Gainesville-based Syfan Logistics, will be held from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily. There will be classroom instruction and guest speakers in the morning, followed by lunch and afternoon field trips to the Georgia Mountain Food Bank, King's Hawaiian, Kubota, and Syfan Logistics.
Dr. Mohan Menon, department head of management and marketing, is glad the Mike Cottrell College of Business can offer this learning environment. Menon said the supply chain issues uncovered by the COVID-19 pandemic have shown the importance of the logistics industry, which employs 181,000 Georgians.
"Students have been exposed to the supply chain during the past few years, so we want to let them know there are many opportunities in Georgia to be a part of it," Menon said.
The goal for the camp's first year is to have between 25 and 30 students.
In addition to learning about logistics, high school students will be able to get information about the supply chain and logistics management concentration within UNG's Bachelor of Business Administration in management.
"We want to get them excited about supply chain and logistics management. We want to get our name out there to the high schools and connect these students with companies where they can work," Dr. Varun Gupta, associate professor of logistics and business analytics, said. "We want to enlighten students about the different roles and responsibilities in supply chain and logistics. It's not just manufacturing or trucking."
Dr. Lu Xu, assistant professor of business statistics and quantitative methods, and Dr. Zuoming Liu, assistant professor of management, will join Menon and Gupta as the UNG faculty members teaching at Camp Logistics.
Syfan Logistics and asset-based Syfan Transport provide a diverse array of shipping services across the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Logistics will also take on a larger role in the region with the future opening of the Northeast Georgia Inland Port planned for Hall County. The 104-acre inland port will provide a direct link to the Port of Savannah via Norfolk Southern. The rail terminal will open with 9,000 feet of working track, expanding to 18,000 feet at full build-out. With a top capacity of 150,000 container lifts per year, the facility will offset 600 roundtrip highway miles for every container moved by rail.
