Ivy Tech Community College’s Lake County campus is launching a skills training program to help area industries fill open jobs.

“Manufacturing is a major economic driver for the Lake County region,” said Leighton Johnson, Ivy Tech statewide assistant vice president for employer connections, in a press release.  

Johnson said there are about 23,000 manufacturing jobs in Lake County, out of 211,000 total jobs. Nearly 11% of all Lake County jobs are within manufacturing, compared to the national average of 7%.

Ivy Tech’s new CNC Automation & Programming Skills Training program focuses on lathe and mill skills within industrial machining firms. CNC, or computer numerical control, is a manufacturing method. It automates the control, movement and precision of machine tools through the use of preprogrammed software. The computer software is embedded in the tools.

The four-day course is open to individuals and industries looking to upskill their workforce. It will take place 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. June 23-24 and June 30-July 1 at Ivy Tech’s East Chicago location. The class includes hands-on training using hardware and software by Haas and software by Mazak. Learn more here.

The program serves as intermediate-level training. It will cover CNC programming skills related to equipment and troubleshooting, machining setup and operations. The training will also include topics such as program formatting and techniques and CAD/CAM modeling. The trailing will result in third-party industry certifications from the National Institute for Metalworking Skills. 

“Bridging the gap between education and the dynamic needs of the high-demand manufacturing work environment will most certainly benefit everyone,” Christopher Norton, Hammond Machine Works manufacturing engineer, said. “I strongly feel that we are moving in the right direction.”