|
Grant Home
Grant
Information
Grant Partners
Targeted Training
Current Course
Offerings
About Workforce
Development
Alpena Community
College
Contact:
Don MacMaster
H-1B Project Director
Alpena Community College
665 Johnson St.
Alpena, MI 49707
989.358.7344
|
|
Grant Information
A partnership consisting of five businesses (Besser Company, Lafarge
North America, Rinker Materials Corporation, Oldcastle, Inc., and Alpena
Regional Medical Center), two business-related non-profits that represent two or
more small businesses (Alpena Area Chamber of Commerce and the National
Concrete Masonry Association), an educational organization (Alpena
Community College), a community organization (Thunder Bay Marine Sanctuary
and Underwater Preserve), and a workforce investment board (Northeast
Consortium Workforce Development Board) has entered into an agreement to
submit an H-1B Technical Skills training grant to the Employment and
Training Administration of the United States Department of Labor under the
75 percent funding provision.
The proposal, called Concrete Technology Solutions, has won federal
funding support of $1.5 million over 36 months to address technical skills
shortages in three target occupational areas: (1) advanced manufacturing;
(2) information technology; and (3) health care technology. The
partnership will train 500 incumbent workers over the three-year grant
cycle. It is projected that most of the training will originate from the
World Center of Concrete Technology on the campus of Alpena Community
College.
Four training ladders are proposed. The first targets concrete blockmaking equipment manufacturers and their customers, such as Besser
Company, Rinker Materials, Oldcastle, Inc., and the National Concrete
Masonry Association. Advanced Manufacturing topics will include Plant
Integration software; advanced training in Programmable Controllers;
design, maintenance and troubleshooting of Hydraulics and Electronics
Systems; CAD/CAM; principles of CNC; Geometric Dimensioning and
Tolerances; and Database Management, Cost Analysis and Financial
Management for process engineers and managers.
Ladder two targets the Information Technology needs of the concrete
products industry as well as small business represented by the Alpena Area
Chamber of Commerce. Training topics will include XML programming language
for web-page design and e-commerce; Cisco Certified Network
Associate/Engineer for network administrators; C++ and Visual Basic 6.0
for engineers and programmers; Microsoft Certified Systems Engineers for
database managers; and Microsoft Office User certifications for
all-purpose professional applications.
Ladder three targets specific health care technology training needs for
Alpena Regional Medical Center, including SANS Security Training; Project
Management and Implementation; and Wireless Networking.
Ladder four targets advanced manufacturing in the cement manufacturing
industry through partnership with Lafarge North America in the delivery of
a Process Engineer/Control Room Operator certification training. Training
topics include Cement Chemistry, Thermodynamics, Pyro Processing,
Programmable Controllers, and Control Room Simulation.
Concrete Technology Solutions addresses technical skills shortages
among the major employers in Northeast Michigan, most notably Besser
Company, the world’s leading manufacturing of concrete blockmaking
equipment, and Lafarge North America’s flagship Alpena Plant, as well as a
pair of companies—Rinker Materials and Oldcastle, Inc.—that have an
international leadership presence in the multi-billion dollar concrete
products design and manufacturing industry. Members of the partnership
currently employ 45 H-1B workers, reflecting both the high tech nature of
the industry and the ongoing technical skills shortages in the workforce.
Michigan’s manufacturing economy is at a crossroads. This proposal will
help domestic workers and employers, reducing the need for employers to
look to H-1B workers to fill skilled positions, and it will train leaders
of the regional economy who will work well into the 21st century.
Highlights of the Grant
- The award is $1.5 million for three years by the United States
Department of Labor’s Employment Training Administration
- This is
one of seven funded in
the seventy-five percent funding stream
- Premise of the grant is to develop and deliver high end training for
incumbent domestic workers that will allow them to compete with the
skill sets foreign H-1B workers have when they enter the country
- There are three target areas for training: (1) Advanced
Manufacturing, (2) IT, and (3) Health Care Technology
- Local partners are ACC, the Northeast Michigan Consortium Workforce
Development Board, Besser Company, Lafarge North America Alpena Plant,
Alpena Regional Medical Center, Alpena Area Chamber of Commerce and Thunder Bay
Marine Sanctuary. National Partners: Oldcastle, Rinker Materials, and
National Concrete Masonry Association
- Current course offerings: Control Room Operator training for
Lafarge—Powerplant operations and kiln training. Upcoming: Solidworks
CAD software for Besser Company; IT security training for AGH; MS
Outlook 2003 for Besser Company; Plant Integration Product Manufacturing
Blockmaker’s course for Oldcastle, Inc.
What is the H-1B Grant?
H-1B grants (technical skills training grants) are authorized by the U.
S. Department of Labor. Technical skills training grants were
authorized under the American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement
Act of 1998 (ACWIA), as amended. Fees paid by employers who bring foreign
workers into the United States to work in high skill or specialty
occupations on a temporary basis under H-1B nonimmigrant visas finance
these grants. Twenty-five percent of the grants are to be awarded to
business partnerships and seventy-five percent are to be awarded to local
workforce investment boards established under the Workforce Investment Act
(WIA). |
|
