Hamilton County’s career and technical education (CTE) program is set to receive a financial boost.¶
Mayor Weston Wamp announced that the county will invest $1 million into the Harrison Bay Future Ready Center and the North River Future Ready Center at his State of the County event on Tuesday.¶
Recent Developments
Hamilton County Schools opened the Harrison Bay Future Ready Center five years ago and the North River Future Ready Center at the beginning of this past school year.¶
Last month, Hamilton County and Hamilton County Schools released renderings of the Franklin-Roberts Future Ready Center, which will open in downtown Chattanooga for the 2026-2027 school year. This center is intended to be a hub for innovation, education, and workforce development for students from 11 schools.¶
Demand for Investment
The money will come from the sale of a parcel of land at the Centre South Riverport, which is the county’s primary industrial port facility.¶
Wamp said he could not take sole credit for it, but he was proud that over the past four years, Hamilton County’s ready graduates have increased from 39.5 percent to 58 percent. For Black students, the rate has more than doubled from 21.6 percent to 47.3 percent in the same period.¶
“Truthfully, one of the challenges we've always faced here (is) disparities, and we know that, and often we look away, (and) we’ve tried not to look away,” Wamp said. “Franklin Roberts will open, giving hundreds of pathways to students across the city of Chattanooga and beyond that don't exist right now.”¶
Wamp said the budget he will soon present to the county commission will include three career advisors to partner with Harrison Bay, North River, and Franklin Roberts.¶
“(They will be) people to walk alongside students and connect them to employers and opportunities across our county,” Wamp said. “I think it's really an incredible way for us to step into the lives of students, but also to make the school system relevant to business owners across our community.”¶
Wamp noted the demand for CTE as one of the main reasons for the investment, with enrollment at North River Future Ready Center increasing 90 percent in the past two years, and 33 percent in the eastern part of the county at Harrison Bay, but that it will likely increase after it undergoes a classroom expansion because there is a wait list to get in.¶
“We’re going to reap what we sow,” Wamp said.¶
