The James Irvine Foundation gave the Chaffey College Foundation in Rancho Cucamonga a $1.3-million grant. The college foundation aims to use the grant to provide technical training and paid internships through the Industrial Technical Learning Center (InTech) in Fontana. 

Inaland Empire grant funds to plug skills gap & provide paid internships

In 2018, a Deloitte study showed that up to 2.4M manufacturing jobs may go unfulfilled by 2028 due to a skills gap. As a result, there is a huge opportunity for low-income Inland Empire residents to benefit from this grant. Interestingly, students who successfully complete one of InTech’s technical training programs will be eligible for a 160-hour paid internship at $18 an hour in IE’s regional companies.

“The grant will help InTech to rapidly rebuild the region’s economy by providing skilled employees for in-demand industrial automation careers’ ‘, said Sandra Sisco, director of Chaffey College economic development and the InTech Center. 

Inland Empire is a hub of industrial activity. Investors are funding startups especially from the industrial and manufacturing category. A successfully completed training program can easily open up doors of manufacturing and logistics automation jobs, including welding, industrial maintenance, robotics and cybersecurity.

Learn more, Earn more 

The InTech Center is a joint venture between Chaffey College and California Steel Industries, Inc. (CSI) to provide technical training in additive manufacturing, HVAC-R, construction and forklift, and other industrial automation operations. 

The Center is set to build talent pools with skills relevant to today’s business needs. A recent survey by Student Loan Hero revealed that “the average student who borrows to attend college graduates with nearly $29,000 in student loan debt”. InTech provides a faster and cheaper alternative to a college degree by upskilling Inland Empire’s youth for industrial automation and digitally-native jobs.

Useful resources

• Industrial Technical Learning Center
• Apprenticeship Search Tool by California Department of Industrial Relations 
• Career Technical Education (CTE) & Training by San Bernardino Valley College
• LAUNCH Apprenticeship Network, Inland Empire
• California Steel Industries
• America’s Skills Gap: Why it’s real and why it matters? 
• 2018 skills gap in manufacturing study | Deloitte Perspectives
• Inland Empire Electrical Apprenticeship

Author: Sharjeel

Sharjeel joined Startempire Wire as emerging technologies editor. Earlier, he worked at Silicon Canals, a leading English language technology media source for the Benelux and wider Europe. He covered the European technology and startup ecosystem digging into latest funding rounds of startups.