The following is shared from Bend Chamber of Commerce and Central Oregon Community College:
The new manufacturing certificates, seven in all, will align with specifications from local industry.
A newly awarded $2,187,923 grant to Central Oregon Community College from the U.S. Department of Education’s Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education — one of just 22 such grants designated for colleges and universities nationwide — will be used to develop short-term certificates for manufacturing technology with regional workforce needs in mind.
The award comes from the agency’s “Supporting Capacity-Building for High-Quality Short-Term Programs” grant division, and will help COCC create new stackable short-term certificate pathways, seven in all, that are aligned with skill specifications from local industry. Among the new certificates: entry level fabricator, structural steel welder, CNC (computer numerical control) operator and industrial maintenance.
Several Central Oregon employers will be integrated into the process — impacting curriculum design and internship development, among other things. Industry partners include Outback Manufacturing, BasX Solutions and Nosler.
“This is very good news,” said Mike Lake, director of Nosler’s innovation division. “As manufacturing processes transition toward increased levels of automation, employee skill level requirements continue to rise beyond the historical task-oriented positions and now require advanced skills that grow and change quickly. Being able to hire employees that already possess these skills is a big benefit for Nosler, and for other local manufacturers.” Nosler, Lake added, is presently building a new 80,000-square-foot facility in Redmond.