ECTC kicks off training program to prepare students for growing number of manufacturing jobs

ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. (WDRB) -- Students at Elizabethtown Community and Technical College will get hands-on job training experience as part of new initiative to address the shortage of qualified applicants in the state's manufacturing sector.

Gearing Up for Manufacturing — announced Friday on ECTC's campus — will use a $178,000 grant from the Kentucky Workforce Trust Fund to raise awareness for manufacturing careers and provide hands-on experience.

"It's hard to see what goes on in a manufacturing company unless you've actually been there," ECTC President Juston Pate. "So many of these decisions are made by people who have never been exposed to manufacturing."

The jobs are in need now, and there will be even more of a need in the years to come. Last year, Ford and SK Innovation announced a joint venture to build a $5.8 billion battery plant in Glendale, Kentucky, which will employ about 5,000 people. BlueOvalSK Battery Park will make batteries used in Ford and Lincoln EVs.

Japanese company Envision AESC plans a $2 billion battery "gigafactory" in Bowling Green, Kentucky, that will employ about 2,000. And Advanced Nano Products will spend nearly $50 million on a 50,000-square-foot facility on 22.6 acres on North Black Branch Road in Elizabethtown.

The initiative is aimed at preparing the workforce for when the industrial industry is ready to hire in Hardin County.

"This is a growing area," said Aaron Thompson, president of Kentucky's Council on Postsecondary Education. "I mean, huge growth. We're going to have to figure out how to accelerate more people going into a highly educated skill position."

Dozens of other companies could follow these manufacturers, and ECTC is heading up the effort to combat a stigma around working industrial jobs.

The college plans to hire a coordinator who will focus on educating the future workforce on the careers through social media, traditional media, tours of facilities, internships and other partnerships. To apply, click here.

Related Stories: