More jobs to open up at Nashua Community College for new work readiness program

NASHUA – More than a dozen jobs at Nashua Community College could open up over the next few months, as the state’s community colleges are hiring to fill positions for new work readiness programs to be rolled out this fall.

The new programs are paid for by a three-year, $19.9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, which was given out at the end of last year.

All seven community colleges – located in Nashua, Portsmouth, Manchester, Concord, Claremont, Laconia, and Berlin – will develop specific programs in connection with New Hampshire businesses in advanced manufacturing.

Four of the seven schools have already started delivering the training programs to students, and the three others, including Nashua, will continue the effort this fall.

“It’s a new and exciting opportunity for New Hampshire,” said Shannon Reid, communications director for the Community College System of New Hampshire. “Companies out there say they have job openings but lack an applicant pool with the particular skills needed to fill these jobs. Through this grant and other efforts, we intend to fill the skills gap and prepare New Hampshire residents with skills to get these jobs and help the economy grow and emerge from the recent recession.

“We want to create a skilled workforce that will help the advanced manufacturing industry thrive.”

Nashua Community College will be hiring a director for the program, two part-time lab assistants, and up to 10 faculty-level tutors. A project coordinator has already been hired, Reid said.

Anyone interested is encouraged to apply at www.ccsnh.edu/hiring.html.

Eight positions were posted online, as of Friday, but none were for jobs in Nashua. Reid said the additional opportunities in Nashua will be posted within the next one to three months.

Each region and community college will focus on different aspects of advanced manufacturing, in order to best fill the job needs in each area.

In Nashua, that means training students for specific skills in precision machining, applied manufacturing, machine tool operation, and computer-aided manufacturing, Reid said.

“Those are areas identified as particular regional needs,” she said. “The chief goal is to make sure we really align the training very closely to actually what the needs are in the industry.

The curriculum is very much informed by our business partners.”

Cameron Kittle can be reached at 594-6523 or ckittle@nashua telegraph.com. Also, follow Kittle on Twitter (@Telegraph_CamK).