Iowa Valley Community College District will use a multimillion-dollar federal grant to expand manufacturing training and assistance to companies across its service area.
The Marshalltown-based community college district announced in a news release it has received $5 million from the U.S. Small Business Administration to provide free technical instruction for small manufacturers in Hardin, Marshall, Poweshiek and Tama counties.
According to the release, training and assistance for these manufacturers will span robotics, automation, industrial software, welding, industrial maintenance and more, building off the district’s existing Iowa Valley Business and Community Solutions program and offerings at Marshalltown Community College and Ellsworth Community College.
“The SBA looked at our proven outcomes-based training, which puts people directly into jobs across our region, and decided to invest in it,” said Iowa Valley Community College District President Anne Howsare Boyens in the release. “This grant lets us take what’s working in our BCS programs and MCC’s manufacturing pathways and put it directly in the hands of the small manufacturers who need it most.”
Iowa Valley Community College District was one of 11 institutions selected to receive grants from the Small Business Administration’s Manufacturing in America Empower to Grow Grant Initiative, the release stated. The combined $50 million in grants are aimed at bolstering capacity among small manufacturing companies in critical areas.
Marshalltown Community College is also launching a new associate degree program in robotics and automation, the release stated, which will also help in the grant-funded training.
“We’re building the pipeline local employers will need five and ten years from now,” said Marshalltown Community College Provost Matt Schmit in the release. “A lot of small manufacturers in our region may not have their own training department, and they can’t always spare employees for the time needed to get certified. This grant lets us bring robotics, automation, and machine tool training directly to them, taught by instructors who already know their industry.”
