Kathleen Hohl 
Communications and Events Director
(414) 297-6208, hohlk@matc.edu

MATC Awarded $547,000 FIPSE Grant
Funding will support construction, green technologies training

MILWAUKEE (Oct. 12, 2009) – Milwaukee Area Technical College has received a $547,000 three-year federal grant through the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE). The funding is part of the $7 million initiative aimed at training dislocated workers that U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced at MATC in June.

The grant will fund MATC’s Pathways to Construction Trades project, in which 120 students will receive more than 500 hours of construction trades training and basic skills instruction. The project will being in late summer 2010 and students will include low-skilled English-speaking students and Hmong- and Spanish-speaking students with limited English proficiency. One of the goals of the project is to introduce students to construction careers, specifically in carpentry, masonry, electricity and green technologies, such as weatherization. The end result will be job-ready individuals who will be equipped to enter the workforce or continue in college-level programs.

“We heard first hand when Secretary Duncan visited MATC how technical and community colleges represent the opportunity to reinvent the nation’s workforce and that education is the catalyst for a strong economy,” said MATC Interim President Dr. Vicki Martin. “Our Pathways to Construction Trades is a unique program in the country and we are pleased that we received a FIPSE grant, which recognizes innovation and improvement.”

The partners involved in the initiative include the Milwaukee Help in Re-Employment (HIRE) Consortium which consists of the Milwaukee Area Workforce Investment Board (MAWIB), the Milwaukee County Labor Council, Wisconsin Job Service, AFL-CIO Labor Education and Training Center and the Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership.

"The PaCT project is an exciting opportunity for dislocated workers who otherwise have few options for meaningful vocational training due to language and basic skills barriers," said Roger Hinkle, a project coordinator at the HIRE Center.  "With its focus on creating a bridge program to careers in the construction trades, it will open new pathways to self-sustaining employment for many dislocated workers who are hungering for a chance for a better life."