Page 38 - BusinessWest March 3, 2021

immunity, Bidwell is confident that those limits can be lifted next year, but the college will plan for all contingencies, including more hybrid learning.
“We’ve proven we can do it, and people have been successful,” she said, adding that the mar- keting message has been, “people wear their mask and social distance, and you don’t have to stop your education. We’re here for you, and jobs are waiting. As we head into summer and fall, people who want to go to school and get that education, they can.”
“We found that our community colleges are our critical, not-so- secret weapon in educating our workforce, so we spent time at many.”
While student ages can range from 18 to 65, the average age at the Advanced Manufacturing Technology Center during the Great Recession, when many more people were looking to switch careers, was around 45. Today, it’s under 30, but no matter the age, the idea is to equip students with a strong foundation from which they can grow into any number of careers.
That foundation begins with a hands-on approach to learning the machinery and tech- niques, from 3D printers, lathes, and surface grinders to welding and robotics labs — a healthy mix of manual and CNC machines.
Even in a healthy economy, the program still
attracts a good number of mid-life career changers who see opportunities they don’t have in their current jobs. Meanwhile, high- school students can take classes at ACC to gain manu- facturing credits before they enroll, and a second-chance program gives incarcerated individuals hands-on experi- ence to secure employment once they’re eligible for parole.
It all adds up to a manu-
facturing resource, and an
economic driver, that has
attracted plenty of public
funding from the state and
from private foundations,
such as the Gene Haas Foundation, which aims to build skills in the machining industry, and recent- ly awarded the program a $15,000 grant to use for student scholarships for tuition and books.
Mind the Gaps
The program has also attracted attention of other kinds. The center was recently featured in the new book Workforce Education: A New Road- map, written by MIT Professors William Bonvil- lian and Sanjay Sarma. The book explores the gaps and problems in the U.S. workforce educa- tion system, while also spotlighting how pro- grams, including ACC’s Advanced Manufacturing Technology program, help to mitigate deficiencies across the country to build a stronger workforce.
“We spent time visiting and learning about
Mary Bidwell with one of the center’s 3-D printers.
apprenticeship programs, about new employ-
er training programs, and visiting lots of commu- nity colleges,” Bonvillian said. “We found that our community colleges are our critical, not-so-secret weapon in educating our workforce, so we spent time at many.”
While the two were researching programs, they learned from an MIT friend, who grew up in Enfield, about Asnuntuck’s program, and Bonvil- lian set up a visit to the college.
“I was very impressed by the programs they presented in advanced-manufacturing skills that reached not only community-college students, but students from area high schools and incum- bent workers at area
companies,” he said. Asnuntuck
“In the book, we Continued on page 39
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MANUFACTURING
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