School among three to offer scholarship

$10,000 will support students in need

FARMINGTON — U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, DConnecticut, joined the state’s community colleges, their foundations and the Precision Metalforming Association Wednesday to announce the establishment of the Precision Metalforming Association Scholarship for Tunxis, Middlesex and Naugatuck Valley community college students studying precision manufacturing/machining.

PMA has seeded the scholarship with an initial $30,000 donation — $10,000 each allocated to TCC, MxCC and NVCC — for the annual scholarship fund, according to a press release. The donation will support precision manufacturing/machining students with financial need who are in good academic standing. Children or spouses of an individual employed by a PMA member company are also eligible, the release said. The annual $1,500 PMA scholarship will be distributed to TCC, MxCC and NVCC students beginning in fall 2019 and may be renewed annually.

“Advanced manufacturing employers are telling us they need skilled workers — 25,000 skilled workers over the next decade — and the Advanced Manufacturing Technology Centers at the state’s community colleges are up to the challenge. The Precision Metalforming Association Scholarship will help advance our goal as Connecticut’s manufacturing pipeline,” Mark Ojakian, president of the Connecticut State Colleges & Universities, said in a prepared statement.

The official announcement was made at Tunxis Community College in Farmington with Murphy, Ojakian; James Lombella, president of Asnuntuck and Tunxis community colleges; Daisy Cocco DeFilippis, president of Naugatuck Valley Community College in Waterbury and Danbury; Sal Vitrano, Tunxis Community College Foundation president; Kimberly Hogan, dean of administration, MxCC; Jule Crawford, MxCC Foundation chairwoman; and Jason Howey, president of OKAY Industries; as well as other representatives from PMA.

“Connecticut manufacturers are second to none. We have a resurging manufacturing industry, and our defense and aerospace sectors depend on a highly trained skilled workforce. The PMA Scholarship for students at the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities Advanced Manufacturing Technology Centers will go a long way in helping to train the next generation of manufacturers in our state,” Murphy said in the release.

“We are excited about this new Precision Metalforming Association Scholarship, which will help us meet critical workforce needs for skilled graduates in advanced manufacturing,” Lombella said in the release.

PMA is the full-service trade association representing the $137-billion metalforming industry of North America — the industry that creates precision metal products using stamping, fabricating, spinning, slide forming and roll forming technologies, and other valueadded processes. PMA’s more than 800-member companies also include suppliers of equipment, materials and services to the industry.

Asnuntuck in Enfield, Housatonic in Bridgeport, Naugatuck Valley in Waterbury, Quinebaug Valley in Danielson, Manchester Community College in Manchester, Middlesex in Middletown, Three Rivers in Norwich and Tunxis Community College in Farmington offer Advanced Manufacturing Technology programs on a part or full-time basis.

Many of the programs have internships or apprenticeships available along with financial aid. Credits earned in a certificate can be applied to students’ community college associate degrees, and provide pathways to Central Connecticut State University’s School of Technology, according to Tunxis.