Delta College Announces Over $500,000 Expansion to Semiconductor Manufacturing Training

Delta College is expanding programs to prepare students to work in semiconductor production.

The expansion is thanks to a $292,000 grant through the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, as well as a pending Congressionally Directed Spending Request for $284,000 in the U.S. Senate.

Delta President Michael Gavin says the funding will go to expand options for students looking to get into semiconductor manufacturing at any level.

“We’re partnering with Michigan State , SVSU, and Central Michigan for engineering. Those pathways will be, I would hope, really robust,” said Gavin. “We also are creating certificate programs for students to get jobs within 9 months just from Delta, and sometimes 2 years, depending on the credential.”

Gavin says an estimated 100 college students will benefit from the programming in 2024, with another two hundred in the following two years, and around 3,000 local middle and high school students will be impacted by outreach programs meant to increase interest in semiconductor manufacturing.

MEDC Talent Solutions Director Chris Rishko says they brought together educational institutions and semiconductor manufacturers to help address shortcomings in the international microchip supply chain.

“This investment that we made  [is] specifically for that: to help build that curriculum that will be needed to help that talent pipeline realize both now and in the long term,” said Rishko.

Delta is one of many schools across the state to receive from the MEDC’s $3 million Semiconductor Higher Education Grant Initiative.