SUNY Orange will use a combined $275,000 in grants it has recently received to expand industrial manufacturing apprenticeship opportunities, provide tuition assistance to students in its Orange County FoodTEC courses, and develop pathways so students in non-credit training and certification programs can more easily transition to academic degree programs.

The college has accepted a $150,000 SUNY Pathways grant for a SkillUp Orange program to benefit the local healthcare sector, a $55,000 SUNY Apprenticeships Program grant to create and offer industrial manufacturing certification courses, a $50,000 grant from the Selis Family Foundation in support of FoodTEC, and a $20,000 SUNY REACH grant to establish credit for prior learning procedures.

“I am happy to announce these grants because they will help us further advance the college’s strategic plan by allowing us to expand our listing of training and certification courses that will support our residents in earning sustainable wages and improving their careers,” said Dr. Jean Leandre, SUNY Orange vice president for workforce, strategy and innovation. “I’m also happy that a portion of these grants are supporting our faculty and staff in creating credit for prior learning processes that will open more doors to academic degrees for those who complete some of our credentialing programs, particularly in healthcare.”

With its SUNY Pathways grant, SUNY Orange will launch the SkillUp Orange initiative in collaboration with local healthcare providers and agencies.

SkillUp Orange aims to help individuals acquire the knowledge and certifications necessary for careers in Emergency Medical Technician, Medical Billing and Coding, and Certified Clinical Medical Assistant.

For more information, contact Leandre at jean.leandre@sunyorange.edu, or visitwww.sunyorange.edu/plus to learn about workforce training and certification opportunities.