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04/10/19

Gadsden State hosts informational session about new technical program

Gadsden State Community College is hosting an informational session about its new program known as Alabama Federation for Advanced Manufacturing Education or Alabama FAME. The session will be at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 11 at the Computer Science Auditorium on the Ayers Campus.

FAME is a partnership between Gadsden State, East AlabamaWorks and area business and industry.

“This program is a result of local manufacturers identifying the need for more workers to be trained in multi-skilled trades of advanced manufacturing,” said Lisa Morales, director of East AlabamaWorks.

The program was rolled out to high school career technical education directors, counselors and career coaches on Feb. 20 at the Oxford Civic Center. Classes will begin this fall at the Ayers Campus.

Students who are selected to participate in the FAME program will spend five semesters going to Gadsden State for 16 hours a week in a two-day period. On the other three days of the week, students will work for up to 30 hours at a sponsoring company. The company will then pay the student a minimum of $12 per hour during the three workdays.

“This not your usual two-year technical program,” said Pamela Satcher, career resource specialist at Gadsden State. “It is designed to be a successful apprenticeship-style training program that provides working experience. They are learning in a classroom and lab setting, and then they are performing shop assignments that correlate with their studies.”

Through FAME, students will receive an AAS in Industrial Automation Technology and a FAME business certificate.

“We are looking for high-achieving high school students in STEM, veterans with technical backgrounds and current or displaced workers,” she said.

Sponsoring industries include Bridgewater Interiors, a company that manufactures the complete seat assembly for the Honda Pilot and Passport in Eastaboga; Fleetwood Metal, an art metal stamping and welding business in Sylacauga; Honda Manufacturing of Alabama, which produces the Honda Odyssey, Passport, Pilot and Ridgeline in Lincoln; General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems, which manufactures munitions, artillery projectiles, bomb bodies and force protection products for the U.S. military in Anniston; Koller Craft, which provides molded plastic components and automated assembly in Gadsden; Kronospan, the world’s leading manufacturer of wood-based panels in Eastaboga; Resolute Forest Products, the global leader in the forest products industry, in Childersburg; and Tape Craft, which manufactures high-quality polypropylene, nylon, polyester and cotton webbing in Oxford.

Other community college participating in the program are Wallace State Community College, Northwest Shoals Community College and Calhoun Community College

For more information and to apply to the program, visit www.gadsdenstate.edu/fame. The deadline to apply is May 1. You can also call Satcher at 256.549.8605 or email her at psatcher@gadsdenstate.edu.