For the 10th consecutive year, Texas Mutual Insurance Company has provided financial support to El Paso Community College’s (EPCC’s) Risk Management Institute, presenting the college with a $100,000 grant last month.
The institute provides workplace safety and health courses for community employers, employees and the general public. A wide range of courses are available through the program, including training to meet OSHA guidelines for the construction and general industries, hazard communication, lockout/tagout, fall protection, ergonomics and OSHA recordkeeping, among others.
Kentucky
Elizabethtown Community and Technical College (ECTC), Family Scholar House and BlueOval SK are teaming to help more students and their families. With a five-year, $500,000 total pledge from BlueOval SK, the partners will construct a family services building at the Family Scholar House ECTC Campus.
The facility will provide much-needed wraparound services to help local families achieve academic, personal and professional success. When completed, the $14.8-million project will have 48 housing units and will include the BlueOval SK Family Services Building, where student parents and their families receive personal and professional support. Students will have access to childcare, food and other supportive services and resources from financial literacy workshops to children’s activities.
Program participants are enrolled full-time in college and participate in a variety of trainings, counseling sessions and tutoring services. Among ECTC students served by Family Scholar House last year, there was enough demand to fill the 48-unit facility and put twice as many students on a waiting list.
Construction is slated to begin this spring with completion expected by fall 2025.
Massachusetts
U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan (D-Massachusetts) visited Middlesex Community College (MCC) recently to present the STEM Challenge Award. MCC received a federal grant of $409,410 for the college’s new computer-aided design program.
“Middlesex Community College is doing remarkable work setting students up for success in today’s job market through their industry-integrated computer-aided design courses,” Trahan said. “Securing this competitive federal funding is a testament to the success of their program that helps students hit the ground running in high-demand, 21st-century jobs.”
As part of a panel discussion at the college, Traham also had an opportunity to hear from the college’s students and employer partners on the benefits of the college’s programs on the local workforce.
Ohio
Stark State College has received a $537,500 Super RAPIDS grant from the Ohio Department of Higher Education to support the college’s new welding and joining center. The funding will go toward new equipment for the renovated 5,824-square-foot space, including automated welding units, plasma tables, several welding machines and more.
“There’s a growing need for skilled and certified welders in our community, so we need to increase our welding capacity,” said Donald Ball, dean of business, engineering and information technologies at Stark State.
Pennsylvania
HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College, will use a $80,000 gift from High Foundation to expand its FLEX classrooms, which provide a functional instructional environment for both onsite and remote learners.
The classrooms are equipped with a camera that allows for teaching from different angles in the classroom and tracks instructors, as well as microphones that capture audio from classroom participants and a large display so the instructor can see remote learners from anywhere in the room. There also are student-facing cameras to allow remote learners to see the classroom as well as onsite learners.
Tennessee
With help from partners City Fields and Wholesale Supply Group Inc., Cleveland State Community College purchased $36,000 of plumbing equipment for training in its plumbing boot camp and the academic Principles in Plumbing course.
City Fields donated $25,000 and Cleveland State provided $11,000 from the Governor’s Investment in Vocational Education 2 grant (GIVE2) for the project. Wholesale Supply worked with RIDGID tools to secure the best possible price for the equipment, valued at $80,000.
“For us, any time that we are able to give back to our community and also be able to help grow our industry is always a great thing,” said Josh Rogers, marketing and public relations director of Wholesale Supply.
The boot camp is a 60-hour program that allows students to earn industry-recognized certifications from the National Coalition of Certification Centers.
* * *
Walters State Community College will use an $8,598 grant from the Simmons First Foundation to grow its underwater robotics program for area youth.
The underwater robotics camps began as part of the Talented and Gifted Program, offered each January by the college’s workforce training division. Camps are now held during the spring and summer. Teams learn how assemble, program and launch underwater robots. Robots may be programmed to retrieve a tool or another underwater object.
“The primary goal of the underwater robotics program is to increase knowledge and enthusiasm for STEM programs,” said Nicole Cardwell-Hampton, director of youth programs. “Students learn about entrepreneurship along with engineering principles, hardware technology and computer programming.”
