Mobile Chamber Names Bishop State Innovator Of The Year

Bishop State Community College has been named the 2023 Innovator of the Year by the Mobile Chamber’s Economic Development Department. The award is presented to a business committed to innovation and dedicated to positively impacting Mobile’s economic growth. Bishop State noted that it has become an innovator in aviation and advanced manufacturing. Through its aviation manufacturing program, Flight Path 9, Bishop State has provided more than 2,100 industry-recognized credentials to participating students and supplied Airbus with more than 120 employees. Bishop State’s Federation for Advanced Manufacturing Education (FAME) on the Coast program, the local chapter of the national FAME organization, developed the first FAME Process Technology cohort in the nation. Nine students started in 2022’s summer semester and are now in their fourth semester of a five-semester program. Students in the cohort have a 100% retention rate and are employed at local companies including AM/NS Calvert, FMC, Alabama Power Company, BASF and Outokumpu.