HENRY PUTTING HIS DEGREE TO WORK FOR FORTUNE 500 COMPANY

Garrett Henry is putting his degree he earned at Big Sandy Community and Technical College to work and then some for a Fortune 500 company.

Henry, 22, of Louisa, is one of only two Material Take Off (MTO) technicians for Kiewit, an Omaha, Neb.-based company with nearly 30,000 employees. Earlier this year, Kiewit was named as one of Fortunes 100 Best Places to Work.

This wouldnt have happened without the education I received at Big Sandy Community and Technical College, said Henry. Im very appreciative for the great start I got there.

A 2009 graduate of Lawrence County High School, Henry was unsure about his future. He attended college for a year before transferring to Big Sandy Community and Technical College.

I was a first-generation college student and unsure about what I wanted to be, he continued, but I got on the right track at Big Sandy Community and Technical College.

Faculty members, like Jerry Howard and Harold Baldridge, made learning interactive, and the fact the industry is constantly changing was also a challenge, said Henry.

You could just tell this was the start of something great for Garrett, said Howard. He fully immersed himself into the studies, and I am not surprised at all to see where he is at so soon in his career.

Henry earned his Associate in Applied Science in Computer-Aided Drafting and Design in 2012, while earning a scholarship through the North Carolina Coal Institute. Also, in 2013, Henry also obtained certificates as a Drafters Assistant, Computer Assisted Drafter and Detailer, in addition to a diploma in Computer-Aided Drafting and Design.

Shortly after graduation, Henry moved to Bowling Green to work for Anderson Engineering. While there, he continued his education, taking night classes at Western Kentucky University.

Although hes been at Kiewit for a few months, he is heavily involved in many projects, including a $4 billion hydroelectric dam in Manitoba, Canada. He was also recently promoted to a newly formed Virtual Construction group within Kiewit, where he works with CAD users throughout the global company.

Some people go their whole careers and not have the opportunity to work on a project of this magnitude, he said. Im very thankful for the opportunities I have had, and especially grateful to the folks at Kiewit who believed in me and gave me this incredible opportunity.

Like the projects Henry is involved in, hes just building a name for himself.

To learn more about the programs at BSCTC, visit www.bigsandy.kctcs.edu.