President's Post: KCC Applies for Manufacturing Training Academy Grant

Our college mission is to enhance quality of life through learning.  We know that one of the ways we can accomplish this mission is to connect our students with family-sustaining careers. This insight is articulated so well in our college's Purpose Statement which establishes a number of goals including to "provide career education" and to "provide leadership for workforce training." As our local economy grows and changes, so will these workforce and career training needs.  As a college, we must be ready to embrace these changes so that KCC is as strong in the future as it is today.

This week, KCC responded to a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) issued by Illinois' Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO). This grant supports the development of a $12 million Manufacturing Training Academy (MTA) to "support the growing demand for electric vehicle battery manufacturing within the county and the surrounding area." Below, I've shared a summary of the program application which we submitted.  KCC's newest industry partner, Gotion, is supportive of these plans and is eager to establish a long-lasting and impactful collaboration with KCC.  I'm confident that our application for these funds will be successful, and I'm excited about how these funds will enhance our campus.

The first aspect of our training academy will enhance the college's capacity to deliver Corporate Training and Education.  Among the many functions of the MTA will be design and delivery of onboarding and orientation for all of Gotion's newly hired employees.  We'll also facilitate the ongoing professional development and workforce training needs. To ensure that we have appropriate campus locations for these corporate training sessions, KCC will be renovating the space where we once housed our college bookstore.  The areas immediately outside of this space also need to be refreshed as the corporate training events will often utilize our college auditorium which is also scheduled for a renovation as early as this coming May.

KCC's manufacturing-related programming is already strong and well-prepared to meet the needs of our region.  However, the development of an electric vehicle battery manufacturing plant in our district necessitates further expansion to be sure we can prepare our students for a career in this industry specifically.  Gotion's leadership team has been generous with insights and recommendations, and this input has helped us create a vision for a second aspect of our MTA.  To strengthen our manufacturing programs, we'll create a new automation lab in our technology building using the space where we currently have a law enforcement simulation lab and a computer graphic design classroom. Of course, we'll be relocating these labs so that we can continue delivering the programming they support.  This project will also give us the opportunity to continue making enhancements to the second floor of our technology hallway where we will be equipping spaces where we can further develop programming related to process technology as well as supervisory controls and data acquisition (SCADA).  Finally, the Wind Lab in our ATEC building will be redeveloped to support a Battery Lab in which our students can learn about energy storage systems of all kinds. 

A third aspect of our MTA is aimed at supporting the growing EV industry by ensuring students have access to programming related to troubleshooting, maintenance, and repair of EVs. This part of the project will involve a large-scale renovation of the college's Automotive Technology Lab. This renovation will increase KCC's ability to expand the scope of our automotive technology programming in a flexible way that meets the needs of a changing industry.

If those plans don't seem amply ambitious, don't worry because we're working on a few other aspects as well. For example, the addition of equipment at KCC's Manufacturing and Industrial Technology Center will allow us to help our students explore laser welding technology that is used in the manufacture of electric vehicle batteries. We also hope to be in a position in which we can purchase and install energy storage systems on one or both of the solar arrays on our Riverfront Campus. 

We're just now collecting and analyzing our 10th Day Census numbers for spring 2024, and it looks like our enrollment has increased once again. This time, the increase looks a bit more substantial, and this means we are doing a great job helping students see the value in a community college degree or certificate.  That said, we can't take our recent successes as a reason to become complacent.  Indeed, much of our current success may be a direct result of our recent enhancements here at the college.  These are ambitious plans and will create change for all of us, and I'm confident that KCC is prepared to see these changes as our proactive strategy to make the college strong for years to come.