MT Magazine March/April 2025

FEATURE STORY

MARCH/APRIL 2025

31

• Provide a conduit for member centers to network with one another. • Workforce and economic development in their communities. • Increase national awareness of Advanced Technology Centers and their positive impact on America’s competitiveness and economic growth. “We have four pillars: emerging technologies, work-based learning, industry-aligned skills development, and lifelong learning environments,” says McAtee. “As an example of how these pillars translate to actions, we help community colleges work with job shops to start a dual-enrollment, paid internship, or registered apprenticeship. We help educators understand that applied learning environments require a minimum of 60% hands-on time. We show everyone how to access grants and funding, and we promote industry-recognized credentials. NCATC does all this, and membership is only $600 and a little bit of time.” If you haven’t set foot on a community college campus in the last 10 years, an Advanced Technology Center may shock you with its possibilities. These spaces are clean and bright; they elevate and dignify technical careers; and the colleges are open and accessible to community involvement. Ask for a tour of the campus – and for a good walk-on song, try Metallica’s “Enter Sandman.”

Advancing Community Colleges Just as CLC helps students and businesses thrive, the National Coalition of Advanced Technology Centers (NCATC) helps educational institutions grow. For example, the ATC that attracted Carrasco to CLC resulted from utilizing the NCATC Membership Assistance Program (MAP). Through MAP, CLC gained a strategic business plan that enabled them to transform an old Lowe’s store into a cornerstone of Lake County’s future. “We connect ecosystems and translate language between industry, education, and government,” says NCATC Executive Director and CEO Craig McAtee (who jokes he is a recovering engineer and who attended his first IMTS in 1988). “With MAP, we interview elected officials, staff and faculty, the industries the college serves, and chambers of commerce and economic development offices. We delivered a plan to fix short-term gaps, solve one- and two-year problems, and provided the longer term plan that resulted in the ATC.” NCATC has more than 180 community college members, and its strategic partners include AMT, numerous AMT members and IMTS exhibitors, Manufacturing USA Institutes, and others. Its core goals include: • Develop and facilitate the exchange of workforce development programs. • Provide a forum to discuss new and emerging technologies to keep members on the cutting edge of technology applications, especially automation, AI, and Industry 4.0.

If you have any questions about this information, please contact Cat at cross@AMTonline.org.