Federal grant to help COCC boost manufacturing classes

Published 4:23 pm Monday, January 25, 2021

Central Oregon Community College has been awarded a $320,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to develop its manufacturing skills program, a boost for regional education and training as the economy looks to rebound and add jobs in coming years.

The funds will be issued in stages — $80,000 a year for the next four years, according to a news release from COCC.

The grant is part of a $5 million funding request from a consortium of nine Oregon community colleges and the Higher Education Coordinating Commission.

The funding comes as Oregon and the nation are suffering from record job losses due to pandemic lockdowns. Oregon’s unemployment rate rose in December to 6.4% from 6% the month before. It was the first time the jobless rate went up since the initial wave of pandemic layoffs in April. The state lost 25,500 nonfarm payroll jobs in just one month.

An upgrade in training facilities at COCC will prepare students for new opportunities that are expected to rev up once the pandemic subsides and businesses resume hiring. Renewable energy and aviation are two areas of growth for Oregon and beyond.

Welding, metal fabrication and machine technology are a few of the skills that students can gain through the COCC programs.

Central Oregon is already home to a number of small and midsized manufacturers. There are three companies building small aircraft and several others that build outdoor gear and apparel.

“Experienced people are in short supply, and we are all competing for these skilled laborers,” said Carsten Sundin, chief technical officer for Redmond-based Stratos Aircraft. “It is vital that people without experience are trained so they can replenish the pool.”

Roger Lee, executive director of Economic Development for Central Oregon, said prior to the pandemic, there were around 1,500 manufacturing and tech jobs that were going unfilled in the area, often due to a lack of experienced and trained applicants.

“There are opportunities to put people back to work sooner rather than later, and if deployed with industry input, this COCC grant could be part of the solution,” said Lee.

Manufacturing employment fell roughly 17% in 2020 in Central Oregon, according to Damon Runberg, the Oregon Employment Department’s regional economist.

Despite the fall, Runberg said Central Oregon manufacturing has become more diverse and technically sophisticated.

The area has “3D printing, aviation and aerospace, beer, kombucha, oatmeal, medical products, etcetera,” said Runberg. “We are no longer as reliant on wood product manufacturing as we were prior to the mid-2000s.”

Over the next 10 years, Runberg estimates Central Oregon will have 6,600 replacement openings and 700 new jobs in manufacturing.

In October WalletHub ranked Bend the second-fastest growing city in the country after Fort Myers, Florida, and more jobs are expected to follow that trend.

COCC says it will use the award to fund equipment purchases and facility upgrades at the college’s Redmond campus. The college will also work with regional manufacturing partners to provide integrated education and training, short-term certifications and hands-on training.

John Pallasch, assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Labor, called community colleges “critical partners” to train the American workforce and build a pipeline for workers for critical industries. The funds come through the Department of Labor’s Strengthening Community College training grant.

The “grants will play an important role in helping workers to reskill as quickly as possible with industry-recognized credentials and accelerated pathways to degrees,” said Pallasch in a statement.

Members of the coalition of Oregon community colleges that applied for the grant are meeting this week to discuss the timing of the funds distribution, said Jennifer Kovitz, director of marketing and public relations for COCC.

“While we have reason to feel confident COCC will begin to receive our allocation of award dollars before the end of the 2020/2021 academic year, we will know more once the coalition meets and discusses this very question,” said Kovitz.

The program will partner with Bend-based Cv International, which builds products for aviation, wind energy, utilities and other industries.

“We will offer students exposure to and hands-on time with manufacturing,” said Dale Riggs, director of engineering for Cv International. “Qualified trainees will be interviewed as potential employees.”