St. Clair County Community College has been awarded a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor for program development and job training in the areas of transportation, distribution and logistics. This is the largest federal grant ever awarded to SC4.

The three-year, Community-Based Job Training Grant will provide the program and equipment to train more than 400 workers in the tracking and movement of goods. SC4’s Workforce Training Institute will be the leader in the project, which will train:

• Existing workers in skills needed for career advancement.
• Unemployed workers in skills needed to get them back into the work force.
• New employees needing specialized training for their jobs.
• High school students who then would continue their training after graduation.

For this training program, the college formed a collaboration with more than a dozen business, education and industry partners, including Mott Community College, Chrysler’s Marysville axle plant, Visiocorp, St. Clair Packaging and Rumble Trucking & Logistics.

The training will qualify workers for jobs that are in high demand in southeast Michigan. SC4 will provide specific programs in radio frequency inventory tracking systems and global supply chain certification. Mott will offer training in transportation areas.

The first year of the grant will be spent developing the training program, with training to begin during the second year. The training will occur both on the SC4 campus and at partner locations.

Nearly 400 applicants applied for grants in this highly competitive process. SC4 was one of only 69 organizations and one of only three in Michigan to receive a grant.