A Milwaukee college expects to play a pivotal role in providing education and employees for the Wisconsin Biohealth Tech Hub that won a large federal grant this month.
Milwaukee Area Technical College on Monday hosted numerous Wisconsin Biohealth Tech Hub Consortium members, along with Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin), for a tour of the college’s training facility. MATC will receive part of the over $80 million the hub has raised through a $49 million federal grant as well as $7.5 million in state money and $24 million from industry partners.
The hub is projected to create up to 30,000 personalized medicine jobs and more than 111,000 indirect jobs in Wisconsin in the first 10 years, according to Evers.
“This is a massive opportunity for MATC and particularly for the students that we serve,” said MATC instructor Sheldon Garrison. “We think we can expand and enhance the different programs that are a part of this, including our biotechnology, our radiography and our CNC manufacturing programs.”
MATC, along with Madison College, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Universities of Wisconsin, will create biohealth career pathways with stackable credentials to train workers for jobs in the industry.
For MATC, this means taking a multi-pronged approach, which includes the introduction of a new biotechnology program for students, expanding other existing programs in its health care pathway to combat current workforce shortages in the area and upskilling, which would allow current employees to continue education to enhance their skills.
By working with local, regional and state employers, MATC will tailor its classes to fit the workforce needs of businesses.
“For the students, that should reduce or almost eliminate some of the on-the-job training and skill building that they need so they can make an impact right away,” Garrison said.
The college would also use the funding to begin new learn-and-earn opportunities for students such as new apprenticeships and internships, something Garrison said the school needs more of.
“We absolutely need to work with an increasing number of employers in the biohealth and personalized medicine space,” Garrison said.
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Funding from the grant would not go toward any capital projects on the campus, according to Garrison. He said MATC had committed substantial resources to building and construction to support the programs that the grant money would go toward staffing and enhancing.
While Garrison couldn’t provide a specific number MATC would receive from the tech hub grant, he said a “significant amount” would “be announced soon.” This will help the partnership prosper for years to come.
“This is meant to open doors that will be longstanding, well beyond the scope of the grant and well beyond the length of the award,” Garrison said.
