A new public-private partnership will help fund 19 full-tuition scholarships for manufacturing students at the state’s community colleges.
Xometry Inc., a publicly-traded technology company that operates an online marketplace for manufacturing services, is partnering with the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology to offer 19 scholarships to manufacturing students.
The agreement, which was announced this week, takes effect immediately and is part of Xometry’s pledge to provide scholarships to 250 manufacturing students across the country.
The company said it’s funding the initiative as a large number of manufacturing companies in the state struggle to find qualified workers.
The Connecticut community colleges taking part in the initiative include: Asnuntuck Community College in Enfield; Capital Community College in Hartford; Housatonic Community College in Bridgeport; Manchester Community College; Middlesex Community College in Middletown and Meriden; Naugatuck Valley Community College in Waterbury and Danbury; Northwestern Connecticut Community College in Winsted; Quinebaug Valley Community College in Danielson and Willimantic; and Tunxis Community College in Farmington.
Paul Lavoie, chief manufacturing officer for the state of Connecticut, said in a statement that the agreement will lead to high-paying jobs in the manufacturing sector.
“The state of Connecticut is grateful for the generous scholarship from Xometry and know it will help our community colleges develop a NextGen Workforce, providing a path to prosperity in high-paying manufacturing jobs,” Lavoie said.
Laurence Zuriff, co-founder of Xometry and managing director of the company’s donor advised fund and ESG initiatives, said in a statement that “Connecticut is an important state for manufacturing and we know that when manufacturing succeeds, Connecticut and our nation succeeds.”
