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Community colleges in Missouri will compete for their share of $12 million in federal funding to create and expand job training programs. KSMU’s Missy Shelton reports.
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Governor Jay Nixon made stops Tuesday in Springfield and Mid-Missouri to announce availability of the funds. Speaking on the campus of Ozarks Technical Community College, Nixon said the money will go to community colleges with programs that train workers in fields where there are jobs.
Nixon says, “This is not building bureaucracy. This is about building people. This is about building the skills necessary for the jobs that exist and need to be filled but we just don’t have the trained people to do it.”
OTC President Dr. Hal Higdon says his college will submit a grant application. He says OTC has the kinds of programs that can provide training for industries looking to hire skilled workers.
Higdon says, “We will be expanding existing programs that have capacity issues and looking at new programs that will quickly get people to work. We believe when we put our application in, the more programs that are going to get people to work quickly are the ones that will be favored. That will run the gamut from allied health programs to technical programs.”
Higdon says he expects OTC will apply for more than one million dollars. Community colleges that are interested in competing for part for the federal funds must submit applications by mid-February.
