Manufacturing, education highlighted at tour of STCC

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - Governor Deval Patrick and Lt. Governor Tim Murray were at Springfield Technical Community College on Friday to tour the campus, and meet with students being trained for precision manufacturing jobs.

Many of the students in STCC’s machinist training program are part of MASSGrant , a state-funded financial assistance program. Patrick is proposing an expansion of the program in his budget, which includes $112 million in new education spending. The proposed spending also includes $20 million for the state’s community colleges.

“If we're going to accelerate our job growth. that is going to require investment. That means investing in transpiration and other public infrastructure, and it means investing in ourselves,” Patrick said.

MASSGrant recipient and STCC student Verne Davidson said that he decided to pursue a career in precision manufacturing because it is growing.

“After I lost my job, I figured I'd go into that field because it was a revolutionizing field where jobs are out there for a wide range of opportunities,” he said.

This is an industry that is coming back strong. It’s estimated that there will be 100,000 jobs to fill in manufacturing over the next decade.