Kellogg Community College is now offering Industrial Trades training at the College’s Eastern Academic Center campus in Albion and is hosting an open house this week to showcase new welding and mechatronics labs at the center.
KCC’s Advanced Manufacturing Career Open House will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 14, at the EAC, which is located at 14055 26 Mile Road, just off of I-94 across the road from Starr Commonwealth. The event is free and open to the public.
In addition to tours of the new labs, the event – held in conjunction with Michigan Works! Southwest and the Michigan Department of Labor & Economic Opportunity – will also include a chance for attendees to connect with KCC’s Industrial Trades faculty and local employers. The evening event will follow Manufacturing Day activities at the center during the day including tours for hundreds of area high school students.
Nathan Venske, executive director of the RMTC, Industrial Trades Education and Workforce Solutions at KCC, said the College is excited to bring new training opportunities to the Albion area.
“The program expansion at the EAC allows us to provide Albion and Marshall area students the same outstanding training offered in Battle Creek at a closer, more convenient location,” Venske said. “We’re excited to meet students where they’re at while deepening our relationships with local employers and providing the training necessary to meet the workforce demands of eastern Calhoun County.”
Until this fall, KCC’s Industrial Trades training programs were offered primarily at the College’s Regional Manufacturing Technology Center campus in Battle Creek’s Fort Custer Industrial Park. The expansion into Albion includes a new 1,300-square-foot welding lab – including eight welding stations and associated equipment – as well as a 900-square-foot mechatronics lab with equipment for students pursuing Industrial Electricity/Electronics and Industrial Technology credentials.
The addition of the new labs allows Industrial Trades students training at the EAC to complete the bulk of the training modules required to earn certificates in KCC’s Industrial Electricity/Electronics, Industrial Technology and Industrial Welding certificate programs.
The new labs at the EAC are the culmination of the College’s EAC Career and Technical Education (CTE) Renovation Project, a $1.75 million upgrade at the facility that started in 2019 and also included a renovation of the center’s CNA Lab. Funding for the project was shared by the College’s 21st Century capital millage fund and grants from organizations including Marshall’s Cronin Foundation, as well as federal Perkins funding.
For more information about KCC’s upcoming Advanced Manufacturing Career Open House, contact the EAC at 517-630-8169 or email eac@kellogg.edu. For more information about Industrial Trades training opportunities at KCC, visit kellogg.edu/industrial.
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