Southeast Community College and 3M are partnering together to educate and train employees for advanced manufacturing jobs. 3M is a Minnesota-based multinational conglomerate corporation operating in the fields of industry, worker safety, health care, and consumer goods. The MAP (Manufacturing & Academic Partnerships) Project helps 3M fill jobs and SCC students pursue manufacturing careers.

“SCC will become a ‘hub’ so we can teach and provide technical support for high schools in the area,” said Ken Reinsch, program chair for the Electrical & Electromechanical Technology program. “Along with an eight-week course, schools will engage students in technical education in the form of computer-controlled learning stations.”

The ‘hub’ includes pneumatics, drives and programmable logic controllers and robotics. The MAP Project is funded through a series of grants from 3M totaling $150,000. That money is used for trainers, additional equipment needed for the project, training for two SCC instructors, and two $2,500 scholarships for students in the Electrical & Electromechanical program.

SCC is one of many 3M MAP sites throughout the nation, but the only one in Nebraska. The equipment is already up and running at SCC’s Milford Campus. Many high school teachers have already been trained on the new equipment.

For more about SCC’s Electrical & Electromechanical Technology program, log on to our website: www.southeast.edu/electricalelectromechanical/