Gateway participates in White House media call

Gateway Technical College’s successful boot camp program was featured in a national press conference hosted by the White House as an illustration of how education and business can partner to better connect Americans to in-demand jobs.

Gateway Board of Trustees member Pamela Zenner-Richards and SC Johnson Chairman and CEO Fisk Johnson lauded the boot camps and their ability to provide intense, short-term training to unemployed and underemployed workers to give them the skills to successful enter a solid career.

The conference was held moments before Vice President and Dr. Jill Biden discussed the Administration’s continued efforts to make college more affordable and provide workers the skills they need for the pathway for success through an investment of $100 million for America’s Promise Job-Driven Training grants.

SC Johnson and Fisk Johnson personally have contributed to the Boot Camp initiative and the Gateway Promise—tuition free college for qualified high school graduates.

Gateway hosted a coalition of national labor, political and corporate leaders interested in learning about the components of the college’s career and technical education success as well as its solid partnerships with area businesses which leads to solid training and graduates entering the workforce quickly.

American Federation of Teachers was a key component in bringing the group together, seeking to gather information to drive a national model for career-tech education programs.

“We need to figure out how to grow more successful partnerships like the one between Gateway Technical College and Snap-on,” said federation president Randi Weingarten.

The group which met and toured the SC Johnson iMET Center included Weingarten, Gateway President and CEO Bryan Albrecht, Snap-on Incorporated CEO Nick Pinchuk, Congressman Mark Pocan, D-Wisconsin, and additional representatives of each group.  

Gateway Technical College was named one of nine colleges to receive a grant from the Goldman Sachs Gives Community College Fund.

The $100,000 award to the Gateway Technical College Foundation Inc. is part of an overall $1 million donation from Goldman Sachs Gives, a donor-advised fund, and will be matched by donors in each of the nine communities.  The endowed scholarship will help students for many years to come.

Gateway’s specific award will provide scholarships for Gateway students in each of three areas: graduating high schoolers who have committed to Gateway, new adult learners and continuing Gateway students.

Gateway Technical College’s new Reader Precision Machining and Manufacturing (RPM) Center on its Elkhorn Campus will offer state-of-the-art manufacturing education which leads to solid, family-sustaining careers.

Excitement about the center was expressed by several officials who spoke at a ribbon-cutting for the state-of-the-art computer numeric control (CNC) training center located in the South Building on Gateway’s Elkhorn Campus, 400 County Road H.

“This is a special day for Walworth County,” Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch told the gathered audience of about 135. “This is a special day for the Reader family, and a great day for the state of Wisconsin. We are conquering the new frontier of manufacturing – that is what is happening here today.”

Gateway Technical College again has been named one of the top places to work among large employers in southeastern Wisconsin, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel’s Top 100 Workplaces 2016 list.

Gateway ranked 21st in the large company category of businesses with 500 employees or more, as it employs 626. This is the seventh year of the survey, and Gateway was named among the top in that category for six of those years, twice in the top 10.

Gateway Technical College held its annual environmental event, featuring fun, hands-on activities for those of all ages to learn how to be stewards of the earth.

More than 2,000 attended Celebrate Earth Day events on Kenosha and Elkhorn campuses, fueled by the wide array of activities, demonstrations and vendors to interest the old, young and family-focused visitor.

“Gateway is proud to extend its commitment to the environment and sustainability to the community,” said Gateway marketing director Jayne Herring. “Celebrate Earth Day offers a fun, interesting opportunity for people of all ages to learn more about gardening, our Great Lakes, trees, birds and so much more.”

Gateway Technical College opened its revamped and much larger Urban Farm and Market for the season at a kickoff party May 5 in and around the grounds of the Pike Creek Horticulture Center on the college’s Kenosha Campus.

This year’s market on the campus represents an increase in the variety of produce to be sold, as well as horticulture and child-friendly related activities. The market will feature heirloom and open-pollinated fruits, vegetables and herbs. Market produce is registered as Certified Naturally Grown.

The market will be open to the public 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Thursdays from now until Oct. 13. Farm tours, children’s activities, demonstrations, discussion groups and entertainment will be featured this year, as well.