Fontana, CA – The California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office has awarded Chaffey College’s Industrial Technical Learning Center (InTech) a $700,000 grant to expand its advanced manufacturing apprenticeship program in the Inland Empire and desert regions.

InTech, hosted at California Steel Industries in Fontana, provides industry-driven technical training for the region’s growing manufacturing and logistics industry. The site includes state-of-the-art classrooms, labs and equipment.

InTech will work more closely with the San Bernardino County Workforce Development Board, the Manufacturers’ Council of the Inland Empire, the Inland Empire/Desert Region College Consortium, Growing Inland Achievement, the James Irvine Foundation and many manufacturers in the region through the 3 ½-year grant.

InTech launched the apprenticeship program in July with five employers and 32 apprentices seeking careers as industrial maintenance electricians or industrial mechanics. Apprentices achieve journey-level status in two to four years, becoming an expert in their craft.

“The industrial maintenance electrician and industrial mechanic apprenticeship not only give individuals a career pathway to family-sustaining wages, but also provide manufacturers with access to an untapped talent pool,” said Sandra Sisco, Chaffey College Director of Economic Development and the InTech Center.

Information: Sandra Sisco, (909) 652-8484 or sandra.sisco@chaffey.edu or Natalie Weaver, (909) 652-8491 or natalie.weaver@chaffey.edu.