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Pillen Praises CCC at Manufacturing Month Ceremony
October 24, 2024
Central Community College played a prominent role in a ceremony where Gov. Jim Pillen (pictured left) proclaimed October as Manufacturing Month in Nebraska.
At a news conference at Cargill in Schuyler on Oct. 23, Pillen cited federal labor data which said that Nebraska’s manufacturing employment is at its highest point since October 2001. According to the Nebraska Department of Labor, the state’s manufacturing employment increased to 109,079 in September 2024. The industry added 4,333 jobs over the past year.
“As governor, I’ve met with several manufacturers in Nebraska that have sites in multiple states across the country,” said Pillen. “Every single one tells me that their best location is in Nebraska. Our people are the difference maker. Nobody can build better than we can here.”
At the event, instructors from CCC overviewed the Independent Mechatronics Education Curriculum (iMEC), which is helping to equip area students for careers in manufacturing. The curriculum is being provided in 18 high schools in Nebraska. Behlen and BD in Columbus and Cargill in Schuyler each provide generous financial support to students who pursue mechatronics degrees at CCC-Columbus.
Ivan Varela (pictured second from right) graduated from Schuyler Central High School in 2022 and from CCC in 2024. He followed the instrumentation and electromechanical pathways within the mechatronics program. Varella is currently employed at Cargill, where he was recently promoted due to his technical capabilities. Joining Varela at the ceremony was Juan Alarcon (pictured right), a student at the Columbus Campus who graduated from Lakeview High School and is working part-time at Cargill. Both spoke highly of the iMEC program and how it prepared them for college and working at Cargill.
Serving as the master of ceremonies for the event was CCC mechatronics instructor Dan Davidchik (pictured second from left), who demonstrated the training devices that are used by the students and the instructors. Also speaking briefly were Craig Potthast, who directs the plastic injection molding program at CCC-Columbus, and Behlen Manufacturing’s Mick Yrkoski, who is an adjunct mechatronics instructor. Potthast touted a National Science Foundation grant that is providing career pathways for Nebraska students. Yrkoski spoke of his involvement with the iMEC program since its inception and how the demand for skilled technicians has always been high during his 25 years in manufacturing.
Brianne Bachman, who teaches science at Leigh Community Schools, addressed the gathering. She was instrumental in bringing the iMEC program to her school — taking coursework at the Columbus Camps last summer to train herself to use the equipment that her students now learn on in class.
“I jumped at the opportunity to help facilitate this program,” Bachman said. “The experiences students gain because CCC is able to offer iMEC in small, rural schools is an opportunity like no other. We have many partnerships with CCC, but his one is a real feather in our caps.”
To close the event, a proclamation was signed by Pillen, who conducted a similar ceremony at Structural Component Systems in Fremont earlier in the day.