Alexandria Technical & Community College Wins $2.47 Million Federal Grant for Advanced Manufacturing Hub
Alexandria Technical & Community College (ATCC), in Alexandria, Douglas County, Minnesota, announced on November 2 that it has been awarded a $2,467,008 federal grant to establish the Runestone Advanced Manufacturing Career Pathways & Innovation Hub, creating a seamless education-to-career pathway connecting high school students, college programs and regional employers.
The grant comes through the U.S. Department of Education's Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) Rural Postsecondary and Economic Development (RPED) Program. The four-year project runs from October 1, 2026, through 2030. Partners include the five Runestone Area Education District (RAED) high schools, Alexandria, Brandon-Evansville, Minnewaska, Osakis and Parkers Prairie, along with regional employers. Students will explore advanced manufacturing careers, earn college credit through dual and concurrent enrollment, stack credentials and take part in work-based learning in fields such as automation, robotics, mechatronics, electronic technology and industrial maintenance.
The physical hub will reuse an existing campus asset: when the Diesel Mechanics program moves into the new Central Specialties Transportation Center in fall 2027, its vacated 8,000-square-foot space will be renovated into a dedicated hub for advanced manufacturing pathways and innovation. "The Innovation Hub represents a significant investment in the future workforce of west central Minnesota," said ATCC President Michael Seymour, adding that the project turns the space into a middle college for advanced manufacturing while strengthening the talent pipeline regional employers depend on.
Sara Fier, ATCC's vice president of academic and student affairs, called the award a transformative opportunity that will help rural students explore rewarding careers earlier, earn college credit while in high school and transition smoothly into in-demand technical programs. Alexandria Public Schools Superintendent Rick Sansted said the grant bridges K-12 education, higher education and direct connections to regional employers, and John French, vice president and general manager of Brenton Engineering, said the future of advanced manufacturing depends on talented people ready to work with increasingly sophisticated technology.
Alexandria Technical & Community College news release
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: Alexandria Technical & Community College校园（资料图）。LittleT889 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / The Alexandria Technical & Community College campus (file photo). Photo by LittleT889, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
