Kirkwood puts focus on high-demand fields

Josh Gross dropped out of high school at age 14. He worked on cars to earn a living and, over time, owned his own repair shop.

But the 28-year-old eventually grew tired of the job.

'I had no ambition to work on cars,” he said.

So Gross turned to Kirkwood Community College to earn his graduate-equivalent degree. That's when he was introduced to the Kirkwood Pathways for Academic Career Education and Employment program.

'I was scared, I was absolutely terrified,” Gross recalled. 'But once I got there and I realized what was going on, we didn't hang out for a couple of days, we got started on it right away and, as we worked, our teacher made us feel comfortable and relaxed.”

For Gross, it was a life-changing experience.

The KPACE program aims to help low-income or under-skilled area workers successfully earn skills they need to work in a local industry or earn a degree.

And not just any industry. Judy Stoffel, student access program developer at Kirkwood Community College, said the program's pathways focus on current 'high-demand industries” such as health care, information technology, and manufacturing. The selected training programs not only help train participants with employable skills to quickly get back into the work force but also to connect them with area companies in need of more employees.

Officials said the program also helps participants with any barriers that might stand in the way of success.

'I think there's potential in a number of individuals that reside in our region, and sometimes we have to look at what might be the small barriers preventing that individual from being independent,” Stoffel said.

She added that the program helps participants become self-sufficient while assisting area employers in finding skilled workers.

Kirkwood's Pathways program and the GAP Tuition Assistance program not only help build up area residents' experience and education but also local employers who need skilled workers.

Individuals eligible for either the KPACE program or GAP Tuition Assistance must be at 250 percent of the poverty line or below. For a family of four, that's $59,625 annually, noted Carla Andorf, director of Skills to Employment at Kirkwood Community College.

KPACE participants also can qualify for the program if they are low-skilled workers interested in attaining quality, in-state employment, are unemployed, are underemployed, or are a dislocated worker.

The GAP Tuition Assistance is a shorter-term program aimed at helping participants get certified and quickly back out into the work force.

KPACE is a career pathway program with a timeline that varies depending on a participant's training program. Through KPACE, participants can earn their high school diploma, refresh their skills or earn a degree depending on their academic goal.

Programs are available in Kirkwood Community College's seven-county region.

'Iowa is unique in having both of these programs,” Andorf said. 'Not many states are making these types of investments into education of the work force.”

KPACE launched in 2011 in response to the need for skilled workers in certain high-demand fields. Kirkwood Community College partners with the United Way of East Central Iowa and several other community-based organizations and local employers to help increase the number of financially stable households.

KPACE since has worked with more than 300 students and has a completion rate of 76 percent.

William McGathy of Cedar Rapids completed the program this fall. He and six other classmates received their certificate in their manufacturing program.

Since August, they received blueprint, welding, and forklift training along with OSHA safety training.

The 45-year-old turned to KPACE after he was laid off from Croell Concrete Products in Hiawatha earlier this year. McGathy was still working on top of taking classes, but it wasn't enough to meet his electric bill one month.

So McGathy told his instructor and KPACE navigator, Randy Knudson, and three days later it was paid.

'They don't want you to worry about anything other than this (class),” McGathy said.