The initiative, supported by a grant from the US Department of Labor, is based at the Business & Technology Campus of the Metropolitan Community College of Kansas City with participation of a large group of Kansas City business, education and social services organizations. The program is developing a curriculum designed to fill the gap in skills training for advanced manufacturing workers.

The WIRED grant is providing funds for an additional 50 trainee/participants over the next three years.

Expected Outcomes

The pre-training assessment and 256-hour curriculum will produce a flow of new entry-level manufacturing with validated interest, preparation and capabilities for success in today’s challenging manufacturing workforce.

Industry partners from throughout the metropolitan area are supporting the curriculum development and will provide preferential placement for trainee graduates, as well as tracking and follow-up on the job to support continuous improvement in the instruction design to assure sustainable success in real-world work performance.

Graduates receive 12 hours of MCC credit, a 10-hour OSHA General Industry Outreach card, Six Sigma Greenbelt Certification, and priority consideration for a position with partner companies.