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Key Partners: Tyson Fresh Meats, John Morrell & Company, Gelita
North America, VT Industries, Smurfit-Stone Container, Sioux City Community
School District, Iowa Region 12 Workforce Investment Board (WIB), Iowa Workforce
Development One-Stop Career Centers
Grant Amount: $1,498,548
Challenge: The workforce challenges faced by this region include rising global
competition, rapid upgrading of plant technology, an aging workforce,
increasing numbers of Hispanic Americans with limited proficiency in English,
and geographic isolation of small manufacturers from the community college’s
main campus. Manufacturers are facing difficulties with entry-level
employees who lack the basic academic, workplace, and technical skills necessary
to succeed in advanced manufacturing.
Addressing the Challenge:
Western Iowa Tech Community College will provide skills training leading
to credentials in numerous advanced manufacturing applications. This
project will test and assess basic skill levels, to develop a program
to bridge critical skill gaps, and develop customized training via multiple
delivery models. For example, the project team will develop a digital
library of interactive courses, or “Reusable Learning Objects,” which
are highly flexible and user-paced. In addition, the project will
create a training lab for the emerging area of boiler thermodynamics,
which is applicable to utilities, renewable fuels, and food processing. The
project also will create a mobile training lab, outfitted with computers
and basic training equipment, to deliver training to manufacturers across
a large rural area.
Projected Outcomes:
- Train 275 new student and incumbent workers, with 200 incumbent workers
earning industry-recognized credentials
- Update the credentialing system, assessment tools, training curriculum,
and career ladders and lattices to reflect regional industry priorities
- Develop and host 100 Reusable Learning Objects
- Raise enrollment in advanced manufacturing training to 30 students per
year
- Introduce Advanced Manufacturing career pathways model into Sioux City
Community School District, targeting 2,120 ninth grade students, with
a broader outreach to over 12,203 high school students in northwest Iowa
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Andrea Albrecht
Recruitment Specialist
albreca@witcc.edu
Phone: 712-274-8733 x 3230
B.A. University of South Dakota
Duties and Responsibilites:
* Responsible for increasing youth and adult enrollment in Advanced Manufacturing areas of study.
* Manages Advanced Manufacturing web site.
* Develops and distributes Advanced Manufacturing marketing material.
* Works with high school faculty and guidance counselors, industry leaders, workforce system and college departments to facilitate outreach, recruitment and job placement of project participants.
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Rogers Pitts
Curriculum Developer
rogers_pitts254@witcc.edu
Phone: ext. 3236
A.S. B.S. National American University
Duties and Responsibilities:
* Accountable for successful implementation of training curriculum to improve the Advanced Manufacturing educational programs.
* Works with faculty and industry leaders to develop curriculum that meets the needs of the Department of Labor and of area businesses.
* Generates Reusable Learning Objects (RLO's) to educate youth and adults.
* Provides on-going measurements of curriculum effectiveness.
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