CCM to lead advanced manufacturing apprenticeship consortium

The U.S. Department of Labor has awarded a $4 million grant to the County College of Morris to expand apprenticeships in advanced manufacturing.

With the grant, announced Wednesday, CCM said it will lead a consortium of state-based community colleges in building an apprenticeship network as part of the Career Advance USA project that will train at least 1,600 individuals.

CCM said it was one of just 23 schools nationwide to receive the grant from the USDOL.

“With more than 7,000 manufacturers in New Jersey, the apprenticeship program will help bridge the gap to create a skilled workforce in entering a critically important industry in New Jersey,” said CCM President Anthony Iacono, in a prepared statement.

“The USDOL grant further supports and strengthens our mission to be one of New Jersey’s major economic engines,” he added.

As a partner in the CCM grant, the German American Chamber of Commerce will provide the consortium – which includes Bergen, Camden, Hudson, Mercer, Middlesex and Raritan Valley Community Colleges and Rowan College at Gloucester – with expertise from its experience with the German model of apprenticeship training.

According to CCM, the consortium will work with national partners including Arconic, Glenbrook Technologies, Norwalt Design, Rosenberger, Siemens, UPS and other leading New Jersey companies.

CCM is also set to open a new, 31,500-square-foot Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering Center in 2020.

The Scaling Apprenticeship Through Sector-Based Strategies grant focuses on developing programs in three areas – advancing manufacturing, information technology and health care – by supporting partnerships between educational institutions and the private and public sector in an effort to close the skills gap and provide job training and placement opportunities.

CCM will also receive about $500,000, it said, as a consortium partner in the same USDOL grant program to develop apprenticeship programs in health care, being led by Bergen County Community College.

“Not only are these grants an historic occasion for CCM but also for New Jersey and the New Jersey Council of County Colleges, which also is partnering in the apprenticeship programs,” said Iacono.