May 8, 2023
This grant is part of a larger initiative focused on sharing best practices to integrate advanced manufacturing credentials into college curriculum. The overall goal of the initiative is to increase opportunities for students to gain higher skills and pursue higher wage career opportunities with modern manufacturers.
May 8, 2023 — JCCC President Andy Bowne and other Johnson County Community College executive team members toured the General Motors Fairfax Assembly and Stamping plant and met with GM leaders on Thursday, April 20, to mark JCCC’s participation in the “EmployED” initiative.
This initiative, funded by GM and administrated through the American Association of Community Colleges, explores how to support the future of the manufacturing industry through community college curriculum. As a partner in the initiative, JCCC received a $40,000 grant to support work to develop advanced manufacturing curricula to equip students with the skills needed to excel in manufacturing jobs in the future. JCCC is one of seven community colleges from across the country to receive a total of $600,000 from GM to participate in the initiative.
“The partnership between JCCC and GM Fairfax will help to drive the transformation of advanced manufacturing,” said General Motors Fairfax and Assembly Plant Director Michael Youngs. “The technological journey of innovation demands integration of higher skills, through the development of constant training and education programs.”
“JCCC is pleased to be a part of this important partnership,” said JCCC President Andy Bowne. “This initiative will enable our industrial technology programs — which include automotive technology and other key manufacturing disciplines — to identify valuable skills and training opportunities to prepare our students for the workplace of the future. At JCCC, we are always looking at ways to ensure our programs equip our students for in-demand, living-wage jobs that strengthen our community.
The grant will fund an 18-month study to develop and share best practices for integrating advanced manufacturing credentials into college curriculum and explores options that will help equip individuals with higher-value skills and prepare them for jobs with higher wage opportunities. As a partner school, JCCC will receive direct technical assistance from AACC. Additionally, AACC will work with JCCC and the other participating colleges to develop collateral that will allow AACC-member community colleges across the country to increase skills training for advanced manufacturing and elevate promising and best practices in program design and delivery for replication, adaptation, and scaling.
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