Four institutions in northeast Arkansas hope their planning will help people in the area land a job on the Big River Steel construction project.
Arkansas Northeastern College in Blytheville, Mid-South Community College in West Memphis, East Arkansas Community College in Forrest City and Arkansas State University at Newport have partnered to create a Certificate of Proficiency in Construction Technology program.
Big River Steel broke ground on a $1.3 billion mill earlier this month. The project is expected to create about 2,000 jobs during construction and about 500 full-time jobs once the mill is operational.
“We’re hoping to provide an entry for those to have an avenue into full-time employment,” Gene Bennett, dean of Workforce & Economic Development at ANC, said. Bennett said the training for the certificate could also provide entry into a construction career.
“Whether deciding to stay local or traveling with huge construction companies, this could be a ticket to some that want to work in construction,” he said.
The certificate will be comprised of several for-credit classes completed over several weeks. Bennett said ANC has plans to have day and night classes offered, taught by two instructors, with the day program taking about 11 weeks to complete, at 30 hours per week, and the night program taking about 16 weeks, at 20 hours per week.
Bennett said other institutions have plans for one instructor and only day-time classes.
The certificate program also includes a 60-hour Workforce Orientation & Retraining Keys program that will be geared toward underemployed and unemployed individuals. The program will be completed before enrollment in the certificate program.
Bennett said those who are currently employed will not be required to complete the WORK program before beginning the certificate program.
The four institutions have applied for four separate grants to help with funding, have been approved for one and are waiting to hear from the remainder. Bennett said it is hoped there will be enough grant money so that the training is at no cost to students. If not, there will be costs to the student, but the amount has not been determined as of yet, Bennett said.
Bennett said there is no agreement at this time with Big River Steel, but a training proposal will be submitted.
It is being discussed whether the training could be part of money from the Arkansas Legislature’s Amendment 82, which authorized the state to issue up to $125 million to Big River Steel. Bennett said a final decision has not been made yet.
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