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TAACCCT Grant 2014-18

TAACCCT Grant 2014-18

In September 2014 Alpena Community College was awarded a $2,500,000 four-year Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College Career Training (TAACCCT) grant from the United States Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration. The project is called Building Career Pathways in the STEM Cluster: Closing the Skill Gap in Northeast Michigan and will provide expanded and innovative training opportunities to 300 participants in four STEM industry sectors across the region.

Targeted Industries:

  • Aerospace: The aerospace sector parallels the need for technological advancement within industry. Two large aerospace employers in the region currently employ more than 900 workers, performing functions ranging from composites design and engineering, avionics, and autonomous avoidance systems. To accommodate the expanding local and statewide employment opportunities, it is necessary to incorporate advanced technology training in the field of drone manufacturing and operations, as well as maintaining secure computer programming systems.  
  • Cybersecurity: The cybersecurity sector offers promising opportunities for employment due to many factors, including the vulnerability of the electrical power grid requiring more highly trained individuals to protect this system. Among community colleges in Michigan, ACC is a leader in the development of smart grid technology training. Advanced by its new $5 million Electrical Power Technology Center, the training provider is uniquely qualified to deliver this content. 
  • Green Energy/Smart Grid Technology: Green energy and smart grid technologies tie together the current expertise and infrastructure of the Electrical Power Technology Center and the active employer partnerships to build sustainability and take to scale a program immersed in evidence-based practice and evaluation. As a Round 1 recipient of a USDOL TAACCCT grant focused on sustainability, Alpena Community College has developed expertise in the delivery of alternative energy training solutions that lead to employment.   
  • Advanced Manufacturing: Advanced manufacturing employment opportunities are quickly returning to Michigan generally, and Northeast Michigan specifically. Improving and expanding the capacity and expertise to broaden and redesign advanced CNC programming, CAD/CAM and advanced welding programs will increase the ability of residents of Northeast Michigan and beyond to meet industry need in advanced manufacturing.

The TAACCCT grant secured by Alpena Community College is one of only two projects awarded in Michigan and one of only 63 issued nationally. It takes to scale the productive work provided with the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration Round 1 TAACCCT grant received by ACC in 2011 and the H-1B Technical Skills Training grant, for which the College won DOL/ETA’s national Recognition of Excellence Award in 2007, and a Community-Based Job Training Grant from 2008-2010.

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For more information about the TAACCCT Grant at ACC or any of the programs, please contact:

TAACCCT Grant Director
Dawn Stone
989.358.7293
stonedawn@alpenacc.edu