Lorain County Community College has been named a NextFlex Education and Workforce Development Innovation Center by NextFlex, according to a news release.
According to the release, LCCC is the first to receive this designation from the Hybrid Electronics Manufacturing Institute.
The Education and Workforce Development Innovation Center designation is given to NextFlex members who demonstrate leadership while making significant contributions to NextFlex's education and workforce development programs, according to the release.
LCCC has been a member of NextFlex since 2016 and has adopted NextFlex's flagship K-12 STEM and entrepreneurship project-based learning program, FlexFactor, since 2018, according to the release.
“Lorain County Community College has been the ultimate partner in every sense of the word from the beginning,” Courtney Power, NextFlex's associate director of education and workforce development, said in a release.
According to the release, LCCC and NextFlex share common goals and advocacy strategies to educate and train emerging and existing workforces and build the deep and diverse STEM talent pipeline needed by the advanced manufacturing sector.
According to the release, LCCC is NextFlex's first expansion site.
Since 2018, LCCC has trained more than 3,200 students in 30 classrooms and 17 school districts in Lorain County and surrounding counties in advanced manufacturing, computer science and technology that lead to in-demand STEM career opportunities in Northeast Ohio. It has been linked to IT and business/entrepreneurship curriculum. says the release.
In addition to the LCCC campus experience, LCCC offers FlexFactor in afterschool programs and summer camps, according to the release.
Additionally, through collaboration with LCCC and Ohio TechNet, NextFlex was able to leverage the Ohio TechNet network to expand FlexFactor to 12 additional locations in Ohio, reaching more than 6,800 total students, the release states. It has been.
“LCCC is proud to accept the prestigious designation as NextFlex's first Education and Workforce Development Innovation Center,” LCCC President Dr. J. Marika Ballinger said in the release. “Building a strong, diverse, skilled and rich workforce is never the job of one institution.
“Truly preparing our region for our future as a Silicon Heartland requires a collaborative regional effort that is replicable at the state level and supported nationally. and its FlexFactor program, and why LCCC has been a passionate and active partner since its inception.”
LCCC offers degrees and certificates in STEM majors important to the advanced manufacturing sector, including the Bachelor of Applied Science in Microelectronics Manufacturing and the Bachelor of Applied Science in Smart Industrial Automation Systems Engineering Technology.
“Through our continued collaboration and the designation of this (Education and Workforce Development) Innovation Center, we will strengthen the defense industrial base, and most importantly the future semiconductor industry, by providing skilled, talented, capable STEM We're confident we can fill it with employees,” Power said. “From Silicon Valley to Silicon Heartland, when you have visionaries like LCCC there, the impact is limitless.”
