AWC receives $500K federal grant for agricultural workforce training
January 28, 2022Funds to provide increased access to professional certifications
Yuma, AZ (January 28, 2022) – Arizona Western College was recently awarded a $500,000 agricultural workforce training grant by the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).
The funding supports AWC’s Growing Opportunities for Agricultural Learning in the Southwest Workforce (GOALS) Project, which aims to expand career opportunities by providing increased access for students in obtaining their professional agricultural certification as Pest Control Advisors (PCA) and Certified Crop Advisors (CCA).
“I am so excited about this grant,” said Reetika Dhawan, AWC Vice President of Workforce Development and CTE. “The GOALS Project collaborates with industry partners to promote, train, and retrain underrepresented students for careers in agricultural sciences related to sustainable agriculture.”
The project features a mentorship program for students, career exploration opportunities for agriculture careers, and workforce training and continuing education opportunities for industry certificates. It will benefit agriculture students in Yuma and La Paz counties as well as partner with the AWC Downtown Reskilling and Technology Center.
“The AWC Agriculture Department is thrilled about this project,” said Tosha Gillispie, AWC Director of Agriculture Programs. “We are looking forward to putting the college’s mission of ‘transforming lives through education and partnerships to create thriving communities’ to work by bringing students and local industry partners together to create a pathway into the agriculture workforce.”
Continuing education training opportunities for these specialized areas of agriculture include curricula that can directly lead to employment upon program completion. GOALS online classes are designed with busy-student schedules in mind – flexible, portable, verified job development, with at-your-own-pace personal enrichment.
Given the importance of agriculture to the community, the need to increase enrollment in agricultural careers, especially for Hispanic and underrepresented students, is paramount to addressing agricultural workforce skilled-worker shortages. The Arizona Western College – Yuma/La Paz Counties Community College District is designated as a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI), providing educational opportunities to students in two remote counties in Southwest Arizona.
This agricultural workforce training grant is one of eight awarded for rural economic development projects as part of USDA-NIFA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative.
Contact:
Brenda Doak
Executive Director for Reskilling and Technology Center
Arizona Western College
Brenda.Doak@azwestern.edu
(928) 317-6180