A Georgia Northwestern Technical College graduate overcame a language roadblock in his education to pursue a career in Logistics and Supply Chain Management.

Raul Soto, a native of Cleveland, Tenn., earned his associate degree in Logistics and Supply Chain Management and was named a semi-finalist for GNTC’s Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership (GOAL) in 2020. He is currently a Supply Chain Development Program trainee at Shaw Industries Inc. in Dalton.

“In my GOAL speech, I talked about having to overcome a language barrier,” he said. “Growing up, it was a challenge learning English while living in a Spanish-speaking household. I managed to overcome this obstacle.”

Soto’s interest in supply chains sprouted during a 10-year stint in grocery retail, he said.

“I worked my way up from front-end clerk to department manager,” he explained. “I gained valuable experience in vendor management, purchase orders, inventory management, forecasting and demand planning.”

After leaving retail, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps, where he learned about military logistics. He said following his honorable discharge, he “stumbled across the supply chain and logistics field.”

While deciding which college to attend, he met with Leyner Argueta, GNTC program director and instructor of Business Management, who discussed the Logistics and Supply Chain Management program with him. Soto said he decided his past work experience aligned well with this program of study.