The Ford Family Foundation has awarded KCC a $100,000 capital grant to support Apprenticeship Center construction

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KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. - Klamath Community College is pleased to announce that The Ford Family Foundation has awarded the college a $100,000 Community Building Spaces Capital Grant to help fund construction of an Apprenticeship Center.

“The Ford Family Foundation is a pillar of community support in Southern Oregon. We are honored that the foundation chose to award a grant to the KCC Apprenticeship Center. The center will support growth and economic development throughout our entire region,” said KCC President Dr. Roberto Gutierrez.

The Ford Family Foundation is a private, non-profit foundation with headquarters in Roseburg, Ore. The foundation awards grants for the benefit of communities in rural Oregon and Siskiyou County, Calif. The foundation designs, manages, and funds programs that aim to improve the well-being of children, families, and communities in the region, including scholarship opportunities for students attending college.

The KCC Apprenticeship Center will provide space for hands-on training and pre-apprenticeship programs for transitioning high schoolers, increase career-technical program offerings, and offer specialized fire science training. Once complete, the project will help upskill the region’s workforce by providing a pipeline of skilled workers, which will bolster workforce development, create jobs, attract private investment, and strengthen the regional economy.

“The Ford Family Foundation has a long history of supporting Klamath County, and we appreciate the partnership that continues with a significant contribution to the Apprenticeship Center project. The center will be a central component in local and regional workforce skill development for trades and public safety. These are absolutely the kinds of job skills that will be needed in the future as Oregon moves back to a growing economy,” said KCC Foundation Executive Director Charles “Chip” Massie.

Initial design concepts for the center indicate the 35,000-square-foot center will span five acres, and include nearly 12,000 square feet of hands-on training space for students enrolled in industrial trades and apprenticeship programs such as electrical, plumbing, millwright, pipefitter, and machinist. The center will also include a fire training academy. Students enrolled in fire sciences and emergency medical operations programs will have a 3,200-square-foot fire training academy for wildland and structural fire instruction.