Several veterans will benefit from an $859,948 Trade Adjustment Assistance/Community College & Career Training grant awarded to Gateway Technical College to assist them in gaining a degree and entering a health-related career.

The grant will target veterans pursuing health care careers in all three counties Gateway serves – Kenosha, Racine and Walworth – through the following programs: Surgical Technology, Dental Assistant, Emergency Medical Technician and Licensed Practical Nursing. The veterans targeted are those who were in a health care position while serving in the military, but now need specific training, degrees or state and industry certifications to enter a civilian health care field.

“This grant provides a win-win for our community,” said Gateway Technical College President Bryan Albrecht. “It serves to address skilled worker shortages in health care as well as supports our veteran students. Gateway is positioned well to meet the needs of all aspects of our community.”

Gateway will receive the grant award through September 2017. Under the program, the college will:

• Develop and use “military skills assessment” for strengths and gap analysis
• Develop training modules to enter the Nursing program
• Develop curriculum bridging gap between skills and education
• Develop, train, and implement simulation instruction and learning for patient-simulation and use of standard simulation
• Develop a 3-credit online course for faculty on simulation instruction

The Wisconsin Advancing Careers and Training for Healthcare Wisconsin’s consortium application led by Chippewa Valley Technical College – consisting of all 16 Wisconsin Technical College System colleges – was awarded the second highest funding of $20 million from the Department of Labor.

The TAACCCT grant program provides eligible institutions of higher education with funds to expand and improve their ability to deliver education and career training programs that will help job seekers get the skills they need for in-demand jobs in industries like information technology, health care, energy and advanced manufacturing. The program awarded $450 million to nearly 270 community colleges partnering with more than 400 employers nationally.