Featured Image: From left, front row: UT President Randy Boyd, USDA State Director Jim Tracy, USDA Rural Development Area Director Marisol Torres, MTAS Grants and Training Specialist Chris Shults; from left, back row MTAS Executive Director Margaret Norris, MTAS Training Manager Abb Oglesby, Naifeh Center Executive Director Macel Ely, CTAS Environmental Specialist Kim Raia and MTAS Program Manager Sharon Rollins.
The Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS), in collaboration with two fellow UT Institute for Public Service agencies, will offer two new training and technical assistance programs in 2021 with help from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
USDA Tennessee State Director Jim Tracy was in Knoxville in September to recognize MTAS for receiving a Solid Waste Management grant and a Rural Community Development Initiative grant to develop new training and technical assistance programs in 2021.
The USDA Solid Waste Management grant will allow MTAS, in conjunction with the County Technical Assistance Service, to develop a program aimed at improving pharmaceutical waste disposal systems in low-income rural Tennessee communities.
The Rural Community Development Initiative grant will allow MTAS, in conjunction with the Naifeh Center for Effective Leadership, to develop a rural community leadership program to provide a training academy and technical assistance program to low-income rural communities in the Appalachian region of Tennessee.
Language Center Recognized by Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
The Tennessee Language Center (TLC) received an award from the National Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (NAHCC) as part of its 2020 Business and Community Excellence Awards. TLC received the Bridges Leadership Service Award for its work in the Hispanic community.
During Hispanic Heritage Month, the NAHCC recognizes professional, civic and business contributions of its members and highlights nonmembers whose involvement had a meaningful impact in the Nashville community throughout the year. Nominees are selected from among those who have demonstrated commitment and leadership to the advancement of the organization, the Hispanic community and the city of Nashville.
Law Enforcement Innovation Center Receives $1.3 Million Grant
Rural law enforcement offcers will see the benefts of a $1.3 million grant awarded to the UT Law Enforcement Innovation Center (LEIC) by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Offce of Community Oriented Policing Services. LEIC plans to use the funds to establish a rural law-enforcement training center, which will launch this fall.
“With the support from University of Tennessee and our talented team, the Law Enforcement Innovation Center has built a solid reputation across the country,” says LEIC Executive Director Rick Scarbrough, who expressed appreciation for the grant. “We deliver quality, consistent and current world-class training.”
The center aims to meet the training needs of rural law-enforcement agencies across the country using instructor-led and distance-based learning technologies to develop and implement training practices and modules that alleviate cost and travel burdens.
A 2018 report by the International Association of Chiefs of Police found that rural law-enforcement agencies make up 48 percent of all local law- enforcement agencies in the U.S, yet small departments lack funds for officer training and cannot afford to give officers time away for training.
