Community colleges bridge the skills gap, training students for good-paying jobs

• September 15, 2015

Kansas City area community colleges are benefiting from a federally funded training program. The goal of the program was to give workers the skills, degrees and credentials needed for high-wage, high-skill employment while meeting the needs of employers for skilled workers.

Although the grant supporting the program runs out for two area community colleges after this semester, instructors who’ve had success matching students with area companies that are eager to hire well-skilled workers say they won’t stop trying to meet the demand.

“Just because the grant runs out doesn’t mean we are going to close down. Definitely not,” said David Grady, who leads the federal grant-funded machining and manufacturing training program at MCC.

The money has allowed the community college to partner with businesses and train unemployed or underemployed workers to fill vacancies in such areas as welding, robotics, industrial maintenance, computer-integrated machining and manufacturing and warehouse logistics.