State grant could help MACC expand manufacturing in Columbia

Moberly Area Community College could be the next home of manufacturing in Columbia.

“I just think that the opportunities are limitless,” said Jo Fey, dean of the school’s workforce development and technical education program.

The school applied for a state grant to expand its mechatronics program hosted at its Columbia campus on Business Loop 70. The program to strengthen Missouri’s workforce is a joint effort between the Department of Economic Development and higher education.

Fey said MACC developed the mechatronics degree program after a plant manager at the 3M facility spoke to them about future workforce needs in automated manufacturing. The school came up with the mechatronics degree program in 2013, focusing on mechanical, electrical and computer skills needed in those work places.

“We are creating a multi-skilled technician who can be responsible for troubleshooting and maintaining a manufacturing process,” Fey said.

The $984,900 requested would help MACC triple the size of its mechatronics lab at the Parkade Center. Fey said the expansion will help make the lab safer, and open the possibility of partnering with the Business Loop 70 Community Improvement District in starting its small-scale manufacturing program. The CID won a federal grant to put together a consulting team to attract those businesses, such as 3D printing, bakeries and garment fabricators.

Fey said the MACC mechatronics lab could be a “blue-collar incubator” for artisans trying to start a business that don’t have the money to buy the equipment needed to manufacture.

“There will be more jobs available to the community surrounding it, that it fosters ideas and new businesses,” Fey said of the partnership.

Fey said the state ranked the MACC application fourth out of the 26 applicants. It’s ultimately up to the Missouri General Assembly to appropriate the funds.

Second Ward councilman Michael Trapp said the city council should focus its lobbying efforts in 2019 on getting the legislature to fund the program.