Casey Curtis, Communications Coordinator

HOPE/TEXARKANA, AR – June 23, 2021

The University of Arkansas Hope-Texarkana along with three other community colleges in Arkansas (UA Cossatot, UA Rich Mountain, and ASU Three Rivers), have partnered together to create the Arkansas Trucking Academy (ArkTA) Consortium.  The ArkTA program received a $720,000 grant to start operations and begin training students to obtain a commercial driving license.  The memorandum of understanding will cover two years from July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2023.

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson said, “This is another pace-setting workforce solution that has grown out of conversations between leaders in industry and education. Arkansas’s businesses had a problem, our educators stepped in to fill it, and we are able to support it with an Arkansas Regional Workforce grant. It’s a model for partnerships between the private sector and the government. Because of that, we soon will be putting more trucks on the road with first-rate drivers at the wheel.”

“General freight trucking has always been a high-demand field in our area, and this partnership program will help provide quality training for individuals to fill these good jobs,” said Akili Moses Israel, UAHT Director of Business & Industry Training.  “The driving academy aims to implement, maintain, and evaluate a high-quality truck driving training program leading to a CDL.”

The program cost is $1,300, and classes will begin in the fall 2021 semester.

For more information, contact Akili Moses Israel at [email protected] or 870-722-8102.