The Community College Skilled Trades Equipment Program, approved by the Michigan Strategic Fund, will give Michigan community colleges access to $50 million to provide job training in high-wage, high and middle skill, and high-demand occupations. The money will allow them to purchase the equipment needed to provide training in trade and skills positions.
According to Amy Cell, Senior Vice President of Talent Enhancement at Michigan Economic Development Cooperation, there is a skills gap between those looking for work and the 89,000 jobs available. A third of those jobs are in that mid-level range where the skills and certification needed to fill them are somewhere between a high school diploma and a four-year degree, “So partnering with the community colleges made a lot of sense.”
Providing this training becomes difficult when the equipment needed is expensive and always changing. The funds will provide them with the equipment needed to provide the training to enter a skilled trade occupation.
“By investing in the jobs pipeline, we will attract new businesses and retain existing ones. It makes Michigan attractive to companies and entrepreneurs,” says Cell.
There will also be the added benefit of collaboration between colleges and developers as they work on the application process and decide what occupations should benefit from the program.
Source: Amy Cell, MEDC
?Author: Allison Monroe, Innovation News Editor
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