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October 20, 2005

Calhoun Community College Receives
$2.5M U.S. Department of Labor Training Grant

Decatur, AL - The office of U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao has announced the awarding of a $2,465,656 grant to Calhoun Community College to fund the AHEAD (Alternate Health Education Asynchronous Delivery) project, which will improve and expand training programs targeting careers in nursing, surgical technology, radiography and clinical laboratory technology. Funding for the project comes through President Bush's High Growth Job Training Initiative, a strategic effort to prepare workers to take advantage of new and increasing job opportunities in high growth, high demand and economically vital sectors of the American economy.

Project AHEAD will be rolled out over a three-year period and will involve a number of college and community partners. Calhoun will serve as the lead institution for the Project. College partners are Central Alabama Community College (Alexander City) and Southern Union Community College (Wadley and Opelika, Alabama). Healthcare community partners include Athens-Limestone Hospital, Decatur General Hospital, East Alabama Medical Center, Huntsville Hospital, and Lanier Health Services. Others involved in the Project are Decatur City Schools, Lawrence County Schools, Huntsville City Schools, and Cardinal Health Laboratories. The involvement of these partners will allow Calhoun to leverage an additional $4.6M in resources through the project.

"One of the keys to sustaining Alabama's recent economic growth is providing highly skilled workers to meet the demands of growing industries," Alabama Governor Riley said. "The quality of our workforce is our number one industrial recruiting tool. With grants such as this, we can expand worker training programs for high growth sectors of the job market and increase our ability to recruit new industries."

Project AHEAD will increase the training capacity of Calhoun and the other college partners by offering an extended consortium of healthcare programs through shared resources and web-based (on-line) instruction. According to Calhoun Community College President Marilyn Beck, students from across the state will benefit from flexible entry and exit points in a number of allied health programs leading to professional certification or licensure. "Project AHEAD is designed to target students from rural and under-represented populations, displaced and incumbent workers, veterans, and professionals returning to school for a second career or career ladder option," commented Dr. Beck.

Earlier this year, Calhoun was also awarded a $3.5M Department of Labor grant targeting training in the area of advanced manufacturing technology. Through funding provided by this grant award, Calhoun is establishing a regional Center for Manufacturing Innovation.

For more information on Project AHEAD, visit the AHEAD website.

Coverage of this release:

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Janet Kincherlow-Martin
Director of Public Relations
(256) 306-2561

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