Manufacturing has long been an economic engine across Northeast Ohio. Through an investment from EDA, the region will build on that legacy and bolster the next generation of skilled workforce in advanced manufacturing. This investment is also vital in building economic resilience, as the region faced uncertainty about the future of the Perry Nuclear Generating Station. 

Twenty miles East of Cleveland in Kirkland, Ohio, the aptly named Lakeland Community College is located in Lake County along Lake Erie. The Lake County Community College District was awarded a $4.2 million EDA grant to renovate and significantly upgrade the Industrial Skills Training Center for Advanced Manufacturing at the Community College.

Through a strategic planning process, the College developed goals to transform its manufacturing training programs to update equipment and increase the number of faculty specializing in advanced manufacturing. Capital improvements to the skills training center will upgrade new equipment and expand programming in welding an CNC machinery, while exploring additional programming in the future, such as construction management and associate-level engineering.

This workforce investment has received an outpouring of support from local employers and is also aligned with the Lake County Comprehensive Development Strategy (CEDS). The federal investment will be matched with $3.1 million in local funds and expected to create 300 jobs, retain 243 jobs, and generate $5 million in private investment.