An open-enrollment industrial equipment technician program that debuts in March at Butler County Community College will provide an edge to applicants seeking to enter one of the top industries in Western Pennsylvania and to employees pursuing advancement in manufacturing, according to BC3 administrators and an industry supervisor.

The 25-week certificate program is free to students, can lead to two high-priority occupations in Armstrong, Butler and Indiana counties and will be instructed from 8 a.m. to noon Tuesdays and Thursdays from March 4 through Sept. 4 on BC3’s main campus in Butler Township.

Students can register to participate in the program until March 3 at bc3.edu/industrial-tech.

As of December, manufacturing was among the top five industries in Armstrong, Butler and Indiana counties, employing nearly 15,000 workers, according to the state Department of Labor & Industry.

Topics in BC3’s program include alternating current and direct current electrical systems, hydraulics and pneumatics, industrial electrical wiring and programmable logic controllers. Equipment diagnostics, troubleshooting, safety and maintenance will also be addressed.

Students can gain hands-on experience with learning systems such as basic fluid power, electrical power distribution, electrical wiring, hydraulics, mechanical drives, pneumatics, portable AC/DC electrical and portable electric relay control troubleshooting.

Skills developed in the program can lead to jobs such as general maintenance and repair worker and as industrial machinery mechanic, each identified by the state Department of Labor & Industry as a high-priority occupation in Armstrong, Butler and Indiana counties.

Representatives from Bayer Corp. and Coherent Corp., Saxonburg, were among eight members of an advisory board that helped BC3 in 2023 to identify regional manufacturing needs and inform the curriculum, according to Kate Buza, coordinator of professional education and certificate programs within BC3’s Workforce Development division.

The college has instructed the program since March 2024 for employees of Bayer, Coherent and JSP International, Butler, Buza said.

“We have manufacturers who are looking for these skills,” Buza said. “Now they are sending them here for training. If they have two candidates who are the same, but only one has gone through the program, that candidate is definitely more likely to be hired.”

William Meyer is an operations manager with Bayer, which produces sterile disposables for computed tomography injections.

“A lot of our process is automated,” Meyer said. “So it really requires the skills that are being taught in the industrial equipment technician program to be successful. All the skills our employees are learning in that program we use here daily to help run our equipment.”

BC3’s program, Meyer said, “is an advantage to an employee looking for a promotion or to someone who is trying to get in with a company. They would have a leg up on the competition.”

The program is being funded by a 2022 U.S. Economic Development Administration “Build Back Better Regional Challenge” grant awarded to a Southwestern Pennsylvania New Economy Coalition that includes the Tri-County Workforce Investment Board, which represents Armstrong, Butler and Indiana counties.

Students will receive a certificate upon completion of the program and will be prepared for positions such as industrial maintenance operator, technician or mechanic, Buza said.

The industrial equipment technician program is the third grant-funded BC3 Workforce Development opportunity available this winter on the college’s main campus.

A grant from the Tri-County Workforce Investment Board also is funding a manufacturing skills training certificate program that begins Monday, Feb. 17. Butler County is funding its third eight-week EMS Academy that starts March 3.

“Manufacturing and health care are our two largest industries in Butler County,” said Lisa Campbell, dean of BC3’s Workforce Development division. “Our job as the community’s college is to help support those industries. Creating these certificate programs that align with pathways to work is what we are supposed to do.

“The Tri-County Workforce Investment Board, through its grant opportunities, is providing us resources to deliver these programs. While we are a great education provider in our communities, TCWIB is a resource partner that enables us to do this.”

For more information about BC3’s manufacturing skills training certificate program, visit bc3.edu/pre-apprenticeship.

To learn more about the BC3 EMS Academy, visit bc3.edu/ems.

Bill Foley is coordinator of news and media content at Butler County Community College.