(L-R) Willy Ormond (Lockheed), Jackie Skryd (SPC), Andre Trotter (Lockheed), Cissy Proctor (DEO), Lara Sharp (SPC), Amy Snyder (BAMA), Natavia Middleton (SPC)
St. Petersburg College (SPC) will work alongside top Tampa Bay manufacturers to launch an innovative workforce training program that is modeled after a premier automotive industry-education collaboration.
Under this new program, participants will receive paid training to become mechatronics and electromechanical technicians. This emerging, high-demand field, involves the synergistic application of mechanical, electrical, and automation skills.
Cissy Proctor, executive director of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, visited the college last week to formally award SPC with a $1.6 million grant from the Florida Job Growth Grant Fund. The grant is part of an $85 million initiative by Governor Rick Scott and the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity to improve public infrastructure and enhance workforce training in order to promote economic development.
Altogether, projects awarded under the Florida Job Growth Grant Fund are anticipated to create more than 18,600 jobs in the Sunshine State.
“The new Mechatronics and Electromechancial Technician Training Program stood out as a program sure to provide transferable, sustainable workforce skills to those who participate,” said Proctor. “We look forward to the opportunities this funding will bring to the families in the St. Petersburg area.”
The college worked with a number of employers, including aerospace and defense global leader, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, and international beverage manufacturer and distributor, Monin, to design the program. This industry-led, competency-based curriculum, will ensure participants receive quality training that will help them succeed in a number of high-demand advanced manufacturing positions.
Representatives from Lockheed Martin Aeronautics attended last week’s event on campus, noting the growing demand for skilled advanced manufacturing technicians to advance operations and automation.
“As a result of an expansion at our Pinellas Park facility in particular, we are realizing a need for 80 to 100 technicians to support assembly and fabrication over the next 12-18 months as we move towards peak production over the next several years,” said André F. Trotter, program director and general manager at Lockheed Martin’s Aeronautics Pinellas Park location. “This is exactly the type of educational partnership that allows us to enhance our skilled workforce.”
“We are excited to have a dynamic group of industry and educational partners collaborate on this high-impact workforce training program that will drive our local and state economies and strengthen our community,” added SPC President, Tonjua Williams.
SPC’s Mechatronics and Electromechancial Technician training program is modeled after the Automotive Manufacturing Training Education Collaborative (AMTEC), a premier automotive industry-education collaboration. AMTEC, a National Science Foundation Advanced Technical Education Center, is strongly considered the leader in online, modularized curriculum and industry engagement for automation training. It counts Ford, General Motors and Toyota as content leaders and boasts 55 active college partners that deliver the training. Fifty international companies utilize the training for its competency-based approach to tailor and accelerate learning, adding companies like Boeing and Amazon in recent years. The growth of new industry partners highlights the demand for new skill development in automation by advanced manufacturers in general. SPC will be the first in Florida to deliver this type of training.
The college anticipates training about 300 people over the two-year grant period. During this time participants can receive paid training.
The program will kick off June 1. Additional details will be available soon at http://www.spcollege.edu/future-students/degrees-training/engineering-manufacturing-and-building-arts.
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