EGCC Gets $836K Grant for Training Center

STEUBENVILLE, Ohio – Eastern Gateway Community College will use an $836,332 grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission to establish a new training center. 

The Tri-State Gateway to Growth Training Center will serve a 12-county region in Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania, Eastern Gateway President Jimmie Bruce said Tuesday after the funding was announced. 

Funding is from ARC’s Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization – or Power – grant program. Power grants target federal resources to help communities and regions that have been affected by job losses in coal mining, coal power plant operations, and coal-related supply chain industries due to the changing economics of America’s energy production.

The center will provide workforce training in advanced manufacturing (including welding, machining, electronics, pneumatics, hydraulics and industrial maintenance), logistics and energy industries, Bruce said.

“The area served by the new center has experienced declines in coal mining employment as well as the closure of a coal-fired power plant,” he continued. “Over the three-year grant period at least 650 workers/trainees and 120 students will obtain new positions or enhance their current ones, and six businesses will be improved by the training model.”

U.S. Sen. Rob Portman and U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson hailed the grant award in separate news releases. 

“When I visited Eastern Gateway Community College this summer, I heard from students and faculty about the need to provide more people with access to the technical training and certification needed to fill the jobs that are available in today’s economy,” Portman said. 

“The Tri-State Gateway Growth Training Center will do just that, and thanks to this ARC Power grant this important facility can be constructed more quickly,” he continued. “These funds will help ensure southeastern Ohioans have the opportunity to pursue the skills necessary for the jobs available today.”

The grant to Eastern Gateway was among several awarded in Johnson’s congressional district. 

“This funding will support projects designed to create jobs and spur economic opportunity by investing in broadband expansion, substance abuse recovery, manufacturing, tourism, and other industry sectors,” Johnson, R-6 Ohio, said. He called ARC “a vital source of critical funding for important projects in our region” and he thanked the commission for its support.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.