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The Montcalm Community College Foundation (MCCF) is helping to provide broader learning opportunities while cutting down long-term costs for the Welding and Automation programs on the college’s Greenville campus. 

Earlier this year, the MCCF’s Developing Talent Fund allocated $80,000 to the Automation program and another $15,000 to the Welding program for updated equipment and repairs on existing equipment. The Developing Talent Fund targets addressing critical shortages in the region’s workforce and providing mechanisms for increasing the number of students pursuing careers in high-wage, in-demand occupations. 

The Developing Talent Fund aided in its mission of improving the college’s abilities to deliver relevant career training and affording more opportunities for career exploration for students by purchasing new equipment requested by the staff in the college’s Manufacturing and Skilled Trades programming on the Greenville campus. Among the new equipment already in place, one of the biggest additions has been a Rhino Cart Fixture Table for the Welding program. This unit is used to position and secure workpieces to ensure the workpieces remain stable during welding, enabling precise and consistent welding results. 

“The fixture table has allowed a lot of forward progress with project-based learning,” said MCC Industrial Technology Lab Coordinator Adam Yuhas. “It’s exposed the students to something they will work with every day in the welding field and it’s something we’ve never had before.” 

Another big addition was another Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) Trainer for the Automation program. The added PLC Trainer brings the total number of PLC Trainers to six compared to the five the program had recently. The additional station allows for an extra student to attend labs, cutting down the lab time slots and the staffing of lab advisor hours, which helps to reduce overall costs. The same can be said for an additional Basic Electrical Trainer and another Pneumatic Instrumentation Module that was purchased. 

Yuhas also noted that one of the department’s older pieces of equipment, a generator welder, is now usable due to the purchase of grounds and leads with the MCCF funds. 

“The welder is outside; it is run off a generator with fuel in it,” Yuhas said. “The settings are going to be a little different, doing something in an open-air environment. It’s going to expose students to something that, depending on which way they go, they will absolutely have to deal with out in the workforce. It’s nice because it’s been a piece of equipment that we’ve had for some time but, due to budgetary restraints, we haven’t been able to implement it in our classes.” 

Additional equipment purchased and already in place includes a 20-ton hydraulic break, used to bend steel, a cold cut saw, which does not cause the same amount of heat as an abrasive wheel and allows for smoother cuts, and a mag drill, which is more compact than a drill press. The Welding department also obtained an additional Fronius iWave TIG welding machine, with the new one including a wireless foot pedal controlled by Bluetooth. This creates more freedom with the machine as students and instructors are not limited to where they can place the pedal because of the cord. 

Other equipment purchased includes a mobile modular electrical sensor system, a FaultPro Troubleshooting Training System, and additions to the existing PLC trainers — all of which will allow for opportunities for higher levels of certification for the students. 

While it can be a big ask for nearly $100,000 in equipment, Yuhas was thankful for the donation from the MCCF and how they prioritize what is needed for MCC students to thrive — not just succeed. 

“It shows that we’re cared about,” Yuhas said. “I think the Foundation sees the need for industry, the community sees the need for industry. When we can get the equipment that we need to stay current and to train people properly to go out into the workforce, it’s a win-win for everybody. We’re creating a better, more prepared worker.” 

“It’s giving students a leg up,” he added. “It’s removed part of that learning curve from when they walk onto a job site.” 

Media inquiries, please contact:

Shelly Springborn
Director of Communications and Public Relations
shellys@montcalm.edu
989-560-0833