ESCC signs MSSC CPT agreement with local school systems
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Enterprise State Community College officially signed an articulation agreement for the Manufacturing Skill Standards Council Certified Production Technician certification course with local K-12 school systems.
“Today is a tremendous signal to our community, to our business and industry partners that we are coming together, partnering with out K-12 school districts as one to implement and provide the necessary skills training not only to take care of current existing needs of business and industry but also put our region in the state to be seen in a more competitive light when it comes to recruiting other business and industries maybe looking to locate in our area,” said ESCC President Matt Rodgers.
The agreement allows any school systems that fall in the Coffee, Dale, Geneva, Pike and western Houston Counties to provide MSSC CPT classes as part of its curriculum, according to ESCC Public Relations Director Stephen Schmidt.
The program could be its own stand-alone course, in the same vein as a dual enrollment course, or be integrated into the existing curriculum. This decision will be made by the separate school systems. If a student completes the entire course, they can get their CPT certification before leaving high school.
Wiregrass Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Jonathan Tullos said this is important for the area.
“In terms of business retention and recruitment, these credentials are kind of the foundation of what we’re looking for now,” Tullos said. “In the past infrastructure has been a big key in economic development—whether or not you’re on an interstate or something like that. In today’s environment, workforce is the number one thing companies are looking for.”
ESCC Director of Workforce Development Ian Campbell said that not only can students leave high school with their CPT certification, but the course also allows them to complete up to 12 credit hours at ESCC as well.
“By articulating this credit, you’re opening up opportunities for students to matriculate to our degree program, such as with the mechatronics program, and already have 12 hours taken care that they don’t have to pay for,” Campbell said. “You’re talking $1,920 worth of college credit plus you’re expediting their process through the degree program.”
He said that ESCC is recommending that schools start the program as early as possible in their curriculum.
The new mechatronics program, also known as industrial maintenance starts, this fall at the Ozark campus at ESCC.
“Mechatronics is really a combination of mechanical engineering and electronics because today’s manufacturing workforce, today’s production workforce—any workforce—you cannot focus one discipline anymore because everything involves electronics now,” said ESCC Mechatronics Instructor Aubri Hanson. “There’s so much automation, robotics, A.I.—it’s all going that direction—so we need programmers, skilled workers, we need people who can work on robots and automated equipment and do the programming for those systems. These are high skill, high wage jobs. I have student interns that make $25 an hour.”
Coffee County Schools Superintendent Kevin Killingsworth said that New Brockton High School, Zion Chapel High School and Kinston High School will all be starting a MSSC CPT Program this fall as well.
“I think it’s a great opportunity to provide more chances for our kids in the county to able to go and do whatever they want to do—really go out to a two-year college or go into the workforce” Killingsworth said. “They will have the training and the skills necessary to do that.”
Enterprise City Schools Assistant Superintendent Patrick Cain said that ECS is looking forward to learning more about the MSSC CPT certification.
The Sun reached out to Daleville City Schools but did not receive a response.