Jefferson Community and Technical College’s Federation for Advanced Manufacturing Education Chapter inspiring other schools to take part

A relatively new program at Jefferson Community and Technical College that helps students prepare to work in STEM jobs is getting national recognition. The program is called the Federation for Advanced Manufacturing Education Program, and has been running for five years while being overseen by Gene Fife for the past two.

The Federation for Advanced Manufacturing Education Program is a year-and-a-half crash course for students to learn the details of the manufacturing industry, while working in it. Students who take part in the program work at their respective companies three days a week, and spend the other two days at Jefferson Community and Technical College, where they spend eight hours in class learning from hands-on activities and classroom lectures.

Fife was quoted by WLKY about the benefits of the program, saying, "The best part for us the classroom is right outside the lab area." 

The goal of the program is to set up a pipeline for students to go right from school into the manufacturing industry. More than two million manufacturing jobs are expected to be unfilled by 2030, according to the National Association of Manufacturers.

Fife echoed this idea, saying, "If you go online and look at jobs, if you type in 'manufacturing' or 'manufacturing technician,' you are going to see openings that have been open for 6-9 months or better."

The Federation for Advanced Manufacturing Education program currently operates 33 chapters in 13 states across the nation. 

The Greater Louisville Chapter that runs out of JCTC has an impressive graduation rate of nearly 94%, according to Fife. These numbers are what has garnered the program the attention of several other community colleges in North Carolina who sent delegates to JCTC recently to learn about starting a chapter at their home campuses.

"We have students that are getting out of our program and getting really nice salaries," Fife said.

Students who graduate from the course will have enough industry certifications to be qualified to be an entry-level manufacturing technician. 

Fife noted his pleasure with the program, and the benefits for the students who take part: "It's a fantastic program; I'm just glad to be a part of it. You can make a great living for the rest of your life by being a part of this."

More information about the program can be found on the Kentucky Federation for Advanced Manufacturing Education website, and applications are currently still open for this year’s fall semester.

More information about Jefferson Community and Technical College can be found at the school’s website.