People need jobs. And to get jobs, they need training.
Myrtle Dorsey, chancellor of St. Louis Community College, has made it a point to go after grants that will expand opportunities for those looking to get in the workforce.
“If there is a new work opportunity coming in the area, it is the responsibility of the community college to train them,” Dorsey said. “That is a critical piece of what we do.”
Last year, the college received $4 million in federal funding to start a training program in modern manufacturing. In 2012, the college trained 271 people.
St. Louis Community College is leading a consortium of public community and technical colleges that received a collective $15 million for the Missouri Manufacturing Workforce Innovation Networks (MoManufacturingWINS) initiative through the U.S. Department of Labor’s Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training initiative. The grant’s goal is that some 3,300 trade-impacted and long-term unemployed workers throughout Missouri will receive training for careers in production, industrial maintenance, welding, machining, and transportation and logistics.
State Rep. Clem Smith of North St. Louis County is living proof that grants such as MoManufacturingWINS get people back to work, he said. A third-generation autoworker, Smith lost his job at the Chrysler Assembly Plant after 13 years when the recession forced its closure in 2009. Through a partnership program between Boeing and St. Louis Community College, Smith had a job with Boeing within three months. He currently is an aircraft assembly mechanic after completing short-term training at what is now known as STLCC’s St. Louis Aerospace Institute.
“Ultimately, the goal is to make this region more attractive to employers, and I believe they will come because what drives that is a skilled workforce,” Smith said. “These programs will help that because they work. These programs not only help individuals like me, but they also help the economy and they help the employer.”
The health-care field is also a focus for the college’s workforce efforts. Through the MoHealthWINS federal grant, the college trained 785 people in healthcare in last year and will train an anticipated 849 this year.
A part of the population that is sometimes overlooked is the over-50 residents. This is the college’s first year for the Plus 50 Completion Strategy Grant, which offers a wide range of training – from entrepreneur and technology to nursing and caregiving.
Although the college’s programs for older workers have been around for years, this grant is a new push in trying to get older people in different careers, Dorsey said.
“For some people it’s new, and for others it’s reopening their eyes to possibilities and options,” she said.
The college is also part of the Mississippi River Consortium, comprised of community college-led workforce and economic development teams in different communities along the Mississippi River that meet regularly to help low-income adults access higher education and sustainable wage employment. The consortium, sponsored by W.K. Kellogg Foundation, establishes long-term coordinated employment and training partnerships.
The idea is to get the river communities to talk and coordinate on disaster response, economic stabilization “and everything unique to the Mississippi River,” Dorsey said.
In October, U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis visited the Florissant Valley campus of SLCC to explain why the federal government feels the manufacturing training initiative is needed.
“It’s important that those who have lost jobs through no fault of their own get back into the work place and into just as competitive fields, if not more so, and be able to do so by obtaining credentials that mean something,” Solis said.
Solis noted that in Missouri, manufacturing contributed $60 billion in direct and indirect benefits to the state economy as 23 percent of Missouri’s workers are employed in advanced manufacturing-related occupations. The average wage in advanced manufacturing is approximately $49,000.
“We are supporting schools that will work directly with companies and corporations that respond to the real needs of employers,” Solis said. “Manufacturing is growing here and it is very important to the state and our economy overall.”
