The Board of the Grand Haven Area Community Foundation granted $75,000 to Muskegon Community College for the MCC Downtown Center, an educational center that aims to better prepare local youth for careers in the STEM industries.
Northwest Ottawa County relies heavily on local manufacturing—particularly robotics, plastic injection molding, and 3D printing—and our local businesses need skilled trade workers to compete in the global market. The Downtown Technology Center will have labs and classrooms in the old Muskegon Chronicle Building in downtown Muskegon. The adjacent Masonic Temple Building will house a Makerspace Lab for community members to explore technologies and a Youth Entrepreneurial Space for youth study.
“Muskegon Community College is thankful to the Grand Haven Area Community Foundation for their generous support of our Downtown Center,” said MCC President Dale K. Nesbary. “We have been providing higher education to [area] students for decades both in Ottawa County and on our main campus. With the opening later this year of our state-of-the-art technology and entrepreneurial facilities located inside our Downtown Center, MCC envisions its graduates helping to build an even stronger economy across West Michigan in the years ahead.”
The MCC Downtown Center will offer programs and certifications in Alternative Energy, Computer Aided Design (CAD), Electricity, Electronics, Engineering, Foundry, Plastic Injection Molding, Robotics, and Industrial, Machining, Materials, and Welding Technology.