Ozarka College Receives $1.47M Grant

Ozarka College in Melbourne received a $1.47 million grant for a three-year workforce program at its satellite campus in Ash Flat.

The Workforce Opportunity for Rural Communities grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of Labor and the Delta Regional Authority. The grant will pay for a director at the college’s Carpenter Technical Center and two faculty members in welding and industrial manufacturing.

Ozarka College’s program, called Ozarka’s Regional Workforce Opportunity for Rural Communities, will work with industry and workforce groups in an 11-county region that includes three Missouri counties. ORWORC will provide readiness training, work-based learning experiences and credentialing opportunities for new and existing workers in the workforce.

“The WORC grant will provide crucial funding to expand industry-informed technical education opportunities for our region,” Ozarka College President Richard Dawe said. “We are collaborating with industry and community partners to strengthen our workforce pipeline by continuing to offer life-changing experiences through education.”