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By Vickie Aldous Mail Tribune October 24. 2014 2:14PM County helps fund RCC job training Nursing assistant students Daniel Andrade, left, and Thomas Bice practice how to help patients use walkers during a nursing assistant class at Rogue Community College's Table Rock campus Thursday. Mail Tribune / Jamie Lusch Jackson County is contributing $75,000 toward an effort to boost training and employment in health care and high-tech manufacturing. Earlier this week, the Jackson County Board of Commissioners authorized paying Rogue Community College $50,000 for health care education and $25,000 for manufacturing-technology training. Investing in training for those sectors could reduce unemployment and provide family-wage jobs for workers, while businesses would be able to hire local people to fill job openings, said RCC President Peter Angstadt. "In about three to five years, people will see a really thriving economy, with people having good-paying careers," he said. RCC is in the midst of raising $8 million from area businesses, governments, individuals and organizations to equal an $8 million matching grant from the Oregon Legislature to expand education and training. The money will pay for new facilities and programs. Jackson County has a higher unemployment rate than the state average. At the same time, local businesses are saying they're having trouble finding employees with the right education and training for good-paying jobs, county officials said. Angstadt said RCC has been asking local businesses what training and education is needed, then designing programs to fit those needs. Several wood products manufacturing businesses, for example, said they had been searching as far as Idaho and Minnesota for workers with mechanical and technological skills, he said. RCC responded by creating a nine-month industrial-technology training program, he said. "Where else can you take nine months of training and then earn $40,000 to $44,000 a year?" Angstadt said of the jobs people can get once they complete the certification program. In the past, companies often provided on-the-job training. But with manufacturing becoming increasingly high-tech and change happening quickly, they often don't have time to train workers while still making products, Angstadt said. They look to RCC to provide needed training, he said. In the booming health care sector, RCC hopes it can increase the number of students completing its programs from 354 people in the 2013-2014 school year to 494 people in the 2015-2016 school year. The potential salaries for the 2013-2014 health care graduates are estimated at $12.8 million, with salaries averaging from $24,516 for adult foster care workers to $79,553 for nurses. With more graduates, the annual earnings of the 2015-2016 graduates could total $17.2 million — providing a boost to the local economy. Careers include emergency medical technician, adult foster care worker, dental assistant and nurse. In the 2013-2014 academic year, two students finished programs to become occupational therapy assistants, and no students graduated to become medical assistants and physical therapy assistants. With added courses and programs, RCC hopes to graduate 46 people for those three professions. Salaries earned by graduates in those three programs would skyrocket from $113,266 in 2013-14 to nearly $1.9 million in 2015-16. Medical assistants earn an average of $32,773 a year. Occupational therapy assistants earn an average of $56,633, and physical therapy assistants earn $58,739 on average, according to RCC figures. Jackson County Commissioner Doug Breidenthal said the county is taking a stance to support economic development by providing $75,000 to RCC. The money will come out of the county's contingency fund. Breidenthal said a trained local workforce will help the county retain existing businesses and attract new ones. He and Commissioner Don Skundrick voted to give the funding to RCC. Commissioner John Rachor voted against the move, saying funding education is not a responsibility of the county. Reach reporter Vickie Aldous at 541-776-4486 or [email protected]. http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20141024/NEWS/141029769 © 2015 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->