CALMAR & PEOSTA- Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC) has received a grant of $4,870,648 to support its “Skill Up” program, a comprehensive information technology training opportunity in the advanced manufacturing, professional and business services, and healthcare fields in the greater Dubuque area. The program will provide training for both the employed and unemployed, so that individuals who complete training will gain the skills they need to advance or gain employment in entry-level IT positions.
The U.S. Department of Labor awarded the funding to NICC through the H-1B Technical Skills Training Grant Competition. These grants, authorized by the American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act, are funded through fees paid by employers to bring foreign workers into the United States under the H-1B nonimmigrant visa program. U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) was instrumental in securing the funding for Skill Up, and said the training program will benefit workers and local employers.
“This innovative program brings the best of both worlds together: funding that supports the training of skilled workers to meet local demand for jobs,” said Harkin. “I applaud NICC’s continued work in this effort and I thank the U.S. Department of Labor for recognizing Iowa’s advancements in job training.”
In Skill Up information technology training, classes would cover a variety of specialized areas, such as Pro-E software training for engineers or systems management software training for employees who seek advancement into computer network administration. The grant funding allows NICC to develop training curriculum and to hire and bring in instructors to provide the training locally. All colleges will be assisting in curriculum development for credit career pathways and certificate programs specially geared toward current employees and individuals who want to increase their skill capacity.
NICC is working with several key partners on the Skill Up program, such as Greater Dubuque Development Corporation, The City of Dubuque, Clarke University, Loras College and Southwest Wisconsin Technical College (Fennimore, Wis.). Additional workforce partners include Iowa Region 1 Employment and Training and the Southwest Wisconsin Workforce Development Board.
Greater Dubuque Development Corporation officials said that the grant announcement comes at critical time for the local economy. “Greater Dubuque Development Corporation is dedicated to business retention and expansion, national marketing, workforce retention, recruitment and development,” said Rick Dickinson, Greater Dubuque Development Corporation executive director. “The need for up-skilling employees’ information technology skills in our major employment sectors of professional and business services, advanced manufacturing, information technology and health services is critical to retain and recruit businesses to our community,” he said.
Many employers will benefit from the advanced training the Skill Up program provides to area employees and job seekers. Employers working in collaboration with NICC and local colleges include Curwood, HyPro Incorporated, Cabela’s, Westmark Enterprises, Inc., Scot Industries-Bar Plant, the Milprint Division of Bemis Flexible Packaging, Medical Associates Clinics and Health Plans, and IBM Corporation. Other area employers partnering with NICC are John Deere Dubuque Works, Cottingham & Butler Insurance Services, Eagle Window & Door, Rentech Energy Partners, Nu-Pak, Heartland Financial USA, Dubuque Data Services, Rayovac and 3M Corporation.
“This is a great opportunity to enhance our partnership with local colleges and businesses to provide high-level, advanced IT skills development training,” said Wendy Mihm-Herold, Ph.D., NICC vice president of economic development services. “The Skill Up program focuses not only on training for laid off skilled workers, but especially advanced training for a company’s current workers. The partnership and this grant are unique in that sense. Also, in the future additional businesses can enter into the partnership with NICC to take advantage of this training opportunity,” she said.
In the partnership, the federal grant funding supports training, curriculum development, instructors and equipment costs incurred by NICC and other colleges in delivering customized training for businesses, which is a cost-effective alternative not previously available, Mihm-Herold said.
The grant awarded to NICC for the Skills Up program was part of a nationwide announcement this week by the U.S. Department of Labor. The NICC initiative was the only program in the State of Iowa to receive the DOL funding, which was a portion of $183 million awarded to 43 grantees representing 28 states.
