Northeast State Community College has been awarded a $1.25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor and the Appalachian Regional Commission through the Workforce Opportunity for Rural Communities (WORC) grant program.
Northeast State was the only community college in Tennessee to receive a WORC grant in the most recent round of funding. In all, $17.2 million was awarded to 13 projects in eight Appalachian states.
“The latest round of WORC grants will continue giving workers in distressed communities the resources they need to enhance their career opportunities,” said Gayle Manchin, ARC Federal Co-Chair. “In doing so, this will reignite Appalachian economies and create results that will reverberate throughout the whole region for years to come.”
The grant is designed to provide job skills in industrial control systems. Additionally, the grant will seek to boost employment opportunities for underrepresented populations in technology fields and create a more supportive learning environment for women in the College’s Technologies division.
Industrial control systems (ICS) integrate hardware and software with network connectivity to operate and automate industrial processes. Examples of industries that use ICS include utilities, oil and gas, and transportation.
“The grant will provide an excellent computer science opportunity for women and students of color,” said Dr. Donna Farrell, Dean of the College’s Technologies Division. “We look forward to providing well-trained ICS graduates for the region’s employers.”
The grant will allow Northeast State to develop ICS certificate and associate of applied science programs, with a goal of launching the programs in the Fall of 2023.
According to College officials, the programs will be created from the existing curriculum with guidance from the Northeast Tennessee Local Workforce Development Board and industry and community partners. The three-year grant runs through Sept. 30, 2025.
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