Southern Regional Technical College history

The institute was renamed SOWELA Regional Technical Institute in March 1990, as it served as the regional center for Region Five.

The new Academic Building followed in the spring of 1995, which provided 15,297 square feet of additional classroom and office space.

In March of 2000, Governor Roy Barnes approved legislation to change the name of Georgia’s technical institutes to colleges.

Continued growth necessitated further expansion in 2004 when the Flint River Technical College Foundation acquired the former Thomaston Mills corporate office complex.

In 2006, the Georgia Legislature approved $7.5 million in funding for a new industrial training center to be placed on the main campus.

Also in 2007, a $300,000 donation from the Windhover Foundation of Quad Graphics was obtained which expanded and renovated the library on the main campus.

LCTCS approved the transfer of the Morgan Smith campus in Jennings from Central Louisiana Technical College to SOWELA on July 1, 2011.

SOWELA received initial accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), the regional body for accreditation of degree-granting higher education institutions in the Southern states, in 2014.

Southern Regional Technical College (SRTC) began operation on July 1, 2015.

On July 1, 2018, SOWELA transitioned an existing campus in Oakdale, formerly under the umbrella of Central Louisiana Technical Community College (CLTCC), into its operations.