PA DCED Makes Manufacturing Training Possible 

Northampton Community College (NCC) received a new grant in the amount of $199,985 from the Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development (PA DCED) to continue the industrial skills in manufacturing training program.  

“We continue to improve the program to ensure we are offering the most up-to-date and relevant information to our students,” says Program Manager for Trade and Technical Programs, Michele Salkin.   

The curriculum is designed to adapt to feedback from industry partners to ensure alignment with current workforce needs. Regional job growth in manufacturing is predicted to rise from roughly 37,000 to nearly 49,000, a 32% increase, in the next 25 years, according to the Lehigh Valley Workforce Investment Board and Lehigh Valley Planning Commission. There’s a shift toward advanced manufacturing, generating strong demand for a skilled workforce and opening the door to better-paying, more resilient career opportunities.  

In response, the Lehigh Valley is rapidly emerging as a regional hub for modern, innovation driven manufacturing in the northeast United States. To support this transformation, Industrial Skills in Manufacturing offers a critical entry point for individuals looking to transition into the advanced manufacturing workforce.  

Recently, the program achieved registered pre-apprenticeship status through the PA Department of Labor and Industry. This is a valuable national credential recognized by companies across the United States, and students receive credits that can be applied to further industrial skills training at NCC.   

Industrial skills in manufacturing at NCC is a ten-week, 240-hour registered pre-apprenticeship program created for unemployed or underemployed individuals who have strong mechanical aptitude, problem-solving skills, and an interest starting or advancing into a career in industrial maintenance or advanced manufacturing. The program combines online learning, hands-on training, and classroom instruction with employer engagement. This program prepares students for entry-level employment, to further their education, or to be hired into an apprenticeship program with related technical instruction conducted at NCC’s Hartzell Hall - Center for Advanced Technology.   

Training topics are comprehensive and range from industrial operations awareness and shop math to basic electricity, pneumatics, and programmable logic controllers (PLCs). Students who complete the program earn the OSHA 10 General Industry certification and four college credits toward a postsecondary degree in a manufacturing-related field. In addition to technical instruction, students learn essential employability skills. Academic and language support is also available through NCC’s Title II Adult Literacy program. 

"Even people who have never been exposed to the industry before can have a strong aptitude for it. Many students go on to a high paying career in manufacturing after completing this  transformative program,” says Salkin.  

The program is funded [in part] by the Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development’s Manufacturing Training to Career Grant program.