May 6, 2025 • 15 mins
Manhattan Area Technical College receives prestigious Carnegie Foundation classifications, positioning it among an elite 8% of institutions nationwide with outstanding student outcomes including 97% job placement rates and 86% of graduates remaining in Kansas.
• Carnegie Foundation classifications include Applied and Career Studies (top 8% of institutions) and Opportunity College and University (top 16%)
• New campus building attracts students and enables partnerships with employers like PTMW
• Flint Hills Business Accelerator Project in child care developing curriculum with almost 30 high school students already enrolled
• $700,000 Patterson Family Foundation grant funding mobile VR training lab to serve surrounding counties
• Economic impact includes $8 million annually from alumni and $5 million from operations
• Launching new programs in plumbing, electrical training, and security technology
• Doubled CNA training capacity and filled nursing programs for first time since pre-COVID
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Philanthropy Today is brought to you by the Greater
Manhattan Community Foundation.
In this episode we feature arecently broadcast segment of
the GMCF Community Hour, asheard on NewsRadio KMAN.
We are back here on KMAN withthe GMCF Community Hour.
I'm Dave Lewis and Jim Jeanetteis joining us here in the
(00:20):
program.
Jim is the president, ceo ofAmerica of might as well be
American Manhattan AreaTechnical College, and it's
always a fun time when you and Iget together because we talk
about a lot of things, butsometimes we also have to get
serious about the work thatyou're doing at MATC, which is
getting so many, you know, notjust local and regional
(00:42):
accolades, but nationally.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Yeah, some cool stuff last week from Carnegie
Foundation which does theofficial classifications for
higher ed, and usually withCarnegie, kansas State is in the
news and like KU because that'swhere they get their Research 1
designation, which is veryimportant to them as they go
after grants and all sorts ofprojects and work with industry.
But Carnegie spent the last fewyears working on some
(01:06):
reclassifications, realizinghigher ed is diversified and so
we got two classifications.
One is related to applied andcareer studies, which is a fancy
name for technical colleges orcolleges with workforce programs
like ours.
Carnegie rates almost 4,000institutions with their
(01:27):
classifications and only about8% are known as applied in
career studies, which with theworkforce dilemma of the
nation's end, it's a prettyelite company we're in.
The more importantclassification from them is
called Opportunity College andUniversity and they only put 16%
of the institutions in that.
But that's because of ourstudent outcomes wages, job
(01:48):
placement rates, satisfaction,and that designation is just
huge in reinforcing what we'veknown.
We you know Wallingham calledus number one best two-year
college in the nation for 24.
We put people to work.
We have a 97% job placementrate.
86% of our graduates stay inKansas.
It's a good time to be a techcollege in America and it's a
(02:09):
great time to be Manhattan Techin Kansas.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
Well, let's talk a bit about some of the things
that are happening there at MATC.
You know you got this big newbuilding which is just A, I
suppose, for a tech college.
It's beyond what you wouldexpect to see or hope to see.
That's got to be an attractionfor potential students.
It is.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
We've definitely seen an uptick in recruiting visits,
groups coming by.
I mean, we have differentgroups almost every day in the
building, which is what we want.
And you know your comment aboutit's kind of unusual to have
that kind of facility.
Yes and no.
And you know your comment aboutit's kind of unusual to have
that kind of facility.
Yes and no.
The design of that facility wasbased on visits we've made to
like Wichita Tech, which is, youknow, the best tech college in
(02:52):
the state.
I'll say that in terms of size,their connection to the
aerospace industry.
I visited up at Metro Collegeup in Omaha.
I've seen a lot of techcolleges.
What was fun with this project,working with our architect and
contractor, was they listened tous on what we wanted for the
space to be functional and didit that way.
And so already you know, we'vebeen working with our employers,
(03:16):
our faculty, looking at thedifferent ways we use that space
, because we've got someflexibility for a while
depending on what comes up.
An example, for instance, isrecently ETMW, a company out of
Topeka, is going to expand hereand they reached out to us both
for our welding capability butindustrial maintenance,
(03:37):
electrician training, and Ithink it's safe to say that our
ability to help them withworkforce was one of the key
reasons they looked at expandingto Manhattan.
That's an investment from thatfacility that's already paying
off.
We're working closely withPotts County Economic
Development and ManhattanChamber.
Related to what goes into CATnext.
So what I've enjoyed is ourability to help influence
(03:59):
economic development because wecan do the workforce side and
that's a big value that we bringto the region.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
You know there's a lot of great things that are
happening with MATC and you knowwe talk about all the different
things that you know the workthat you have there with the new
facility, but also with the newfacility oh gosh, what is the
proper term for the child careinitiative that you're involved
(04:27):
in as well?
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Right.
So the Flint Hills BusinessAccelerator Project in child
care, yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
That's a lot, that's a big title.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Yeah.
So Lisa, the director for thatproject, is on our staff as well
.
She's put together thecurriculum.
She will help teach that.
We'll be working with her andthe Community Foundation to find
an outreach coordinator to workwith her.
The curriculum is going throughthe proper channels with the
state regents process.
She's been doing a super jobreaching out to people, working
(04:59):
with folks, getting peopleexcited about this project and
it's just another example aboutthis project.
And it's just another example.
With her help she reached outand talked to other two-year
colleges in the state with childcare programs, picked the best
of those to put in ourcurriculum.
She working with my dean ofoutreach and partnerships, chris
Boxberger, his connections withthe area schools, especially
(05:19):
USD 383.
I think we already have closeto 30 students signed up to take
the child care classes throughthe high school, to get credit
for that through us and to helpher staff some of that facility
and get more workforce.
So yeah, it's just anotherdirect example of us being a
part of the community.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Yeah, yeah.
Well, you know there's a lot ofpeople that have been.
You know you do have afoundation.
A lot of people may not befamiliar with that, but how does
the foundation assist yourmission at MATC?
Speaker 2 (05:49):
So it's a 501c3, and it helps us in getting donations
going after grants.
But we've made that a key partof working within the GMCF,
which helps us a lot withmanagement of the funds.
So we save some personnel costson that to make sure that we're
investing the money good forgrowth.
But, for instance, we'reworking on a corporate grant
(06:10):
right now that would helpprovide money for scholarships
for high school and adult edstudents to go into certain
programs, as well as help usdesign what my grant writer has
put together called anexploratorium, which relates to
how we get word out about theseprograms in area schools and
it's hands-on stuff thatstudents can do to get them
interested in workforceeducation.
(06:31):
That, combined with the currentPatterson Family Foundation
grant project we have, byprobably mid to late fall, we'll
have a virtual reality mobiletrailer going out in the
surrounding counties, both as arecruiting tool with schools,
also as a lab to work withbusiness and industry to do
introductory courses in basictechnology.
(06:51):
This VR stuff and AI I mean it'sgot my head spinning, but it's
definitely the wave of thefuture in how we educate and
train people and I think we'regoing to see a whole new level
of student performance becauseof their excitement with
technology.
The uses for this stuff iscrazy and we're so glad to work
with Patterson.
They provided us with about a$700,000 grant to launch this
(07:17):
concept with the mobile VRtrailer, and we're working on a
second one because I want asecond one to work with
healthcare, particularly that wecan take out this ability to
combine AI and VR hands-on stuff, if you will, with anybody gets
you more excited about learning, it's safer, it costs us less
in materials.
It's the way corporate Americais trading.
You know I'm getting old.
(07:39):
I'm 68 years old, but I want tobe about 30 years younger
because of the way thistechnology can help you learn to
do stuff.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
You know, when you and I were kids, we were pretty
thrilled, just to have a, but Iwant to be about 30 years
younger because the way thistechnology can help you learn to
do stuff.
You know, when you and I werekids, we were pretty thrilled.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Just to have a color TV.
Yeah, I mean, I had Tinker toys.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, thisstuff.
I got to spend part of the dayat dreamscape Academy at Arizona
state last year and we didabout a one hour simulation and
there'd their VR lab and youwere totally immersed in it.
The scenario for us was similarto an Indiana Jones movie, but
(08:12):
then part two of it we wereactually working on animals in a
fictitious planet, but we werelike veterinarian aides working
with animals through VR and theability to grab data about
current conditions.
You know we worry aboutoverload, but this stuff comes
(08:32):
at you in such a way that makessense, so you can put the puzzle
pieces together to diagnosethings.
The impact on the sciences andon technology with this stuff is
incredible.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Let's talk a bit about another aspect.
With MATC, you have beenworking with a lot of different
organizations here in town thatdo a lot of the tech work that
is needed in our community forconstruction or whatever the
case may be.
You've got investors, you'vegot donors that help through
(09:05):
your workforce development, andthese partnerships are
significant, and how does thatplay into the work that you are
doing here with regard togetting students engaged in the
work that they're trainingthemselves for?
Speaker 2 (09:22):
So I'm really proud of our faculty and our staff for
embracing ideas and learning.
I'm going to try to explainthis easily.
Financial aid and VA benefitsare great.
It helps people get through theprocess, but some students can
go faster than what theirtraditional structure of
education allows, and so we'vebeen working with some companies
(09:43):
, and one is our is VHS, ourpartner on the construction of
the new building.
How do we set up moreinternships for students so that
we can lay in front of studentsfrom day one in class?
If you can get these indicators, be on time, participate, get
your assignments in on time,show us you've got some good
workforce skills.
We've got a lot of employerswilling to give you a paid
(10:05):
internship and you get into theworkforce quicker.
We can take what they learn onthe job for credit into the
programs we're able toaccelerate people into the
workforce.
We're especially working onthat angle as we work at Fort
Riley.
We are on base at their request.
We have our first weldinggraduates coming up next week.
We're going to keep expandingother programs there, but those
(10:25):
soldiers have a lot of militarytraining that counts for credit.
We're in a unique position,both with high school students
through early collegeopportunities, fort Riley
students through their training.
Then you add in the adultstudents.
We've graduated about 200people with their GED and about
40% of those kids have gonethrough us at the same time to
get training to be a CNA or inwelding or an auto mechanic.
(10:48):
The opportunities they all havefor jobs that are starting at
anywhere from 18 bucks an hourup to 30 some bucks an hour.
It's crazy.
In our industrial maintenanceprogram I think last I checked,
about three-fourths of ourstudents that tested for
michelin got jobs immediately atmichelin, michelin's paying the
rest of their college billwhile the student works
(11:10):
part-time at michelin.
There's no hook that they haveto stay with michelin.
But michelin's program has keptover 90 of those students
because they get them into agood career path.
These, these opportunities forthe students are amazing.
The other key part, I thinkwhere we have an edge over a lot
of traditional education isbeing hands-on.
So the kids see, here's why Ineed to know this math and this
(11:32):
science and I have to knowenough English to make this
report.
We're able to show therelevance of all those skills.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Let's talk a bit about MATC and what you're doing
to help fortify the workforcehere locally.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
So we did an economic impact study through a third
party, and so our alumni andagain study through a third
party, and so our alumni andagain 86% of our students stay
in the region after theygraduate as workers.
Their annual economic impact isover $8 million a year into the
regional economy.
Our operational impact is over$5 million a year.
The new building we put up theimpact on that was over 180
(12:10):
full-time jobs.
So we're not at the level ofK-State they're, you know, the
land-grant university.
We're not that.
We are a regional tech college,but our impact is direct, fast
and local.
Our students tend to come outwith low or no student loan debt
, so their consumer power as anemployee is incredible.
(12:31):
Nurses they get the job withany of the area healthcare
industries.
It's a good paying job.
They're buying a car, they'rebuying a house.
Welding students they're buyinga truck, they're buying a
cooler, they're buying a house.
That consumer impact of ourstudents stays in this region
and it's huge.
So our annual budget is around$9 million a year.
(12:51):
Our economic impact in thisarea is twice that.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
You know and that's one of the things I don't think
people take necessarily into theframe of their mind is that
this type of education isdirectly related to economic
development.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Yep and the chambers in the Potts County Economic
Development.
Both those entities inparticular have been great using
us in that way.
We're a good partner with them.
Again, the PTMW expansion weworked with the chamber.
That incentive package the citycommission looked at to help
this company come here.
We're a key part of that,providing that workforce and
ongoing training.
(13:31):
We're working closely withLandall up at Marysville and as
you know, landall's an importantemployer for the region.
Their products go global.
Well, we're trying to feed morewelders there.
We'll be launching a plumbingprogram this fall new plumbing
program.
You know those folks make goodmoney.
Electrician training will becoming after that, security
(13:52):
technology right after that.
So we're going to be launchingthree pretty good programs
within the next 12 months thathave great earnings power and
they're definitely needed in thecommunity.
In addition, I'm tickled todeath to report that we finally
have bounced back from covidrelated to health care so we
have full classes coming in thefall for both our practical
(14:14):
nursing and registered nursingprograms.
First time since before COVIDand again working with area
schools and other entities, wehave doubled the number of CNA
seats for us to be able to trainpeople to be CNA starting this
fall.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
That's big news.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
Yeah, healthcare, it's huge in this area and we're
a good feeder for that.
Now you know all the healthcarepartners want to thank them.
Yeah, healthcare, it's huge inthis area and we're a good
feeder for that.
Now you know all the healthcarepartners want to thank them.
Via Christie stepped up rightaway to help us.
Community Foundation has aswell, so a lot of good stuff
coming.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
Well, congratulations on all the work and all the
honors you've been receivinghere, and we'll encourage our
listeners to find out more aboutManhattan Area Technical
College at the websitemanhattantechedu.
Jim Jeanette, presidentManhattan Area Technical College
, Keep moving forward.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Sir, you got time for one quick rock and roll trivia
question.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
Okay, go.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Mamma Mia.
The phrase Mamma Mia was numberone in the charts for over 11
weeks, from 75 to 76, first withBohemian Rhapsody, and that
song was knocked off by Abba'ssong Mama Mia.
So the two word phrase Mama Miatop of the charts for 11 weeks.
There's your worthless rock androll trivia for the day.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
And that's a spicy meatball.
Jim, always pleasure to talk toyou.
Thanks for joining us again,congrats and good luck with
everything else you're workingon.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Thank you much.
Thank the foundation forhelping us.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
It's the GMCF Community Hour.
Vern's back in the studioClosing segment coming up in
just a couple of moments here onNewsRadio KMAN.
Philanthropy Today is brought to you by the Greater
Manhattan Community Foundation.
In this episode we feature arecently broadcast segment of
the GMCF Community Hour, asheard on NewsRadio KMAN.
We are back here on KMAN withthe GMCF Community Hour.
I'm Dave Lewis and Jim Jeanetteis joining us here in the
(00:20):
program.
Jim is the president, ceo ofAmerica of might as well be
American Manhattan AreaTechnical College, and it's
always a fun time when you and Iget together because we talk
about a lot of things, butsometimes we also have to get
serious about the work thatyou're doing at MATC, which is
getting so many, you know, notjust local and regional
(00:42):
accolades, but nationally.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Yeah, some cool stuff last week from Carnegie
Foundation which does theofficial classifications for
higher ed, and usually withCarnegie, kansas State is in the
news and like KU because that'swhere they get their Research 1
designation, which is veryimportant to them as they go
after grants and all sorts ofprojects and work with industry.
But Carnegie spent the last fewyears working on some
(01:06):
reclassifications, realizinghigher ed is diversified and so
we got two classifications.
One is related to applied andcareer studies, which is a fancy
name for technical colleges orcolleges with workforce programs
like ours.
Carnegie rates almost 4,000institutions with their
(01:27):
classifications and only about8% are known as applied in
career studies, which with theworkforce dilemma of the
nation's end, it's a prettyelite company we're in.
The more importantclassification from them is
called Opportunity College andUniversity and they only put 16%
of the institutions in that.
But that's because of ourstudent outcomes wages, job
(01:48):
placement rates, satisfaction,and that designation is just
huge in reinforcing what we'veknown.
We you know Wallingham calledus number one best two-year
college in the nation for 24.
We put people to work.
We have a 97% job placementrate.
86% of our graduates stay inKansas.
It's a good time to be a techcollege in America and it's a
(02:09):
great time to be Manhattan Techin Kansas.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
Well, let's talk a bit about some of the things
that are happening there at MATC.
You know you got this big newbuilding which is just A, I
suppose, for a tech college.
It's beyond what you wouldexpect to see or hope to see.
That's got to be an attractionfor potential students.
It is.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
We've definitely seen an uptick in recruiting visits,
groups coming by.
I mean, we have differentgroups almost every day in the
building, which is what we want.
And you know your comment aboutit's kind of unusual to have
that kind of facility.
Yes and no.
And you know your comment aboutit's kind of unusual to have
that kind of facility.
Yes and no.
The design of that facility wasbased on visits we've made to
like Wichita Tech, which is, youknow, the best tech college in
(02:52):
the state.
I'll say that in terms of size,their connection to the
aerospace industry.
I visited up at Metro Collegeup in Omaha.
I've seen a lot of techcolleges.
What was fun with this project,working with our architect and
contractor, was they listened tous on what we wanted for the
space to be functional and didit that way.
And so already you know, we'vebeen working with our employers,
(03:16):
our faculty, looking at thedifferent ways we use that space
, because we've got someflexibility for a while
depending on what comes up.
An example, for instance, isrecently ETMW, a company out of
Topeka, is going to expand hereand they reached out to us both
for our welding capability butindustrial maintenance,
(03:37):
electrician training, and Ithink it's safe to say that our
ability to help them withworkforce was one of the key
reasons they looked at expandingto Manhattan.
That's an investment from thatfacility that's already paying
off.
We're working closely withPotts County Economic
Development and ManhattanChamber.
Related to what goes into CATnext.
So what I've enjoyed is ourability to help influence
(03:59):
economic development because wecan do the workforce side and
that's a big value that we bringto the region.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
You know there's a lot of great things that are
happening with MATC and you knowwe talk about all the different
things that you know the workthat you have there with the new
facility, but also with the newfacility oh gosh, what is the
proper term for the child careinitiative that you're involved
(04:27):
in as well?
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Right.
So the Flint Hills BusinessAccelerator Project in child
care, yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
That's a lot, that's a big title.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Yeah.
So Lisa, the director for thatproject, is on our staff as well
.
She's put together thecurriculum.
She will help teach that.
We'll be working with her andthe Community Foundation to find
an outreach coordinator to workwith her.
The curriculum is going throughthe proper channels with the
state regents process.
She's been doing a super jobreaching out to people, working
(04:59):
with folks, getting peopleexcited about this project and
it's just another example aboutthis project.
And it's just another example.
With her help she reached outand talked to other two-year
colleges in the state with childcare programs, picked the best
of those to put in ourcurriculum.
She working with my dean ofoutreach and partnerships, chris
Boxberger, his connections withthe area schools, especially
(05:19):
USD 383.
I think we already have closeto 30 students signed up to take
the child care classes throughthe high school, to get credit
for that through us and to helpher staff some of that facility
and get more workforce.
So yeah, it's just anotherdirect example of us being a
part of the community.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Yeah, yeah.
Well, you know there's a lot ofpeople that have been.
You know you do have afoundation.
A lot of people may not befamiliar with that, but how does
the foundation assist yourmission at MATC?
Speaker 2 (05:49):
So it's a 501c3, and it helps us in getting donations
going after grants.
But we've made that a key partof working within the GMCF,
which helps us a lot withmanagement of the funds.
So we save some personnel costson that to make sure that we're
investing the money good forgrowth.
But, for instance, we'reworking on a corporate grant
(06:10):
right now that would helpprovide money for scholarships
for high school and adult edstudents to go into certain
programs, as well as help usdesign what my grant writer has
put together called anexploratorium, which relates to
how we get word out about theseprograms in area schools and
it's hands-on stuff thatstudents can do to get them
interested in workforceeducation.
(06:31):
That, combined with the currentPatterson Family Foundation
grant project we have, byprobably mid to late fall, we'll
have a virtual reality mobiletrailer going out in the
surrounding counties, both as arecruiting tool with schools,
also as a lab to work withbusiness and industry to do
introductory courses in basictechnology.
(06:51):
This VR stuff and AI I mean it'sgot my head spinning, but it's
definitely the wave of thefuture in how we educate and
train people and I think we'regoing to see a whole new level
of student performance becauseof their excitement with
technology.
The uses for this stuff iscrazy and we're so glad to work
with Patterson.
They provided us with about a$700,000 grant to launch this
(07:17):
concept with the mobile VRtrailer, and we're working on a
second one because I want asecond one to work with
healthcare, particularly that wecan take out this ability to
combine AI and VR hands-on stuff, if you will, with anybody gets
you more excited about learning, it's safer, it costs us less
in materials.
It's the way corporate Americais trading.
You know I'm getting old.
(07:39):
I'm 68 years old, but I want tobe about 30 years younger
because of the way thistechnology can help you learn to
do stuff.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
You know, when you and I were kids, we were pretty
thrilled, just to have a, but Iwant to be about 30 years
younger because the way thistechnology can help you learn to
do stuff.
You know, when you and I werekids, we were pretty thrilled.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Just to have a color TV.
Yeah, I mean, I had Tinker toys.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, thisstuff.
I got to spend part of the dayat dreamscape Academy at Arizona
state last year and we didabout a one hour simulation and
there'd their VR lab and youwere totally immersed in it.
The scenario for us was similarto an Indiana Jones movie, but
(08:12):
then part two of it we wereactually working on animals in a
fictitious planet, but we werelike veterinarian aides working
with animals through VR and theability to grab data about
current conditions.
You know we worry aboutoverload, but this stuff comes
(08:32):
at you in such a way that makessense, so you can put the puzzle
pieces together to diagnosethings.
The impact on the sciences andon technology with this stuff is
incredible.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Let's talk a bit about another aspect.
With MATC, you have beenworking with a lot of different
organizations here in town thatdo a lot of the tech work that
is needed in our community forconstruction or whatever the
case may be.
You've got investors, you'vegot donors that help through
(09:05):
your workforce development, andthese partnerships are
significant, and how does thatplay into the work that you are
doing here with regard togetting students engaged in the
work that they're trainingthemselves for?
Speaker 2 (09:22):
So I'm really proud of our faculty and our staff for
embracing ideas and learning.
I'm going to try to explainthis easily.
Financial aid and VA benefitsare great.
It helps people get through theprocess, but some students can
go faster than what theirtraditional structure of
education allows, and so we'vebeen working with some companies
(09:43):
, and one is our is VHS, ourpartner on the construction of
the new building.
How do we set up moreinternships for students so that
we can lay in front of studentsfrom day one in class?
If you can get these indicators, be on time, participate, get
your assignments in on time,show us you've got some good
workforce skills.
We've got a lot of employerswilling to give you a paid
(10:05):
internship and you get into theworkforce quicker.
We can take what they learn onthe job for credit into the
programs we're able toaccelerate people into the
workforce.
We're especially working onthat angle as we work at Fort
Riley.
We are on base at their request.
We have our first weldinggraduates coming up next week.
We're going to keep expandingother programs there, but those
(10:25):
soldiers have a lot of militarytraining that counts for credit.
We're in a unique position,both with high school students
through early collegeopportunities, fort Riley
students through their training.
Then you add in the adultstudents.
We've graduated about 200people with their GED and about
40% of those kids have gonethrough us at the same time to
get training to be a CNA or inwelding or an auto mechanic.
(10:48):
The opportunities they all havefor jobs that are starting at
anywhere from 18 bucks an hourup to 30 some bucks an hour.
It's crazy.
In our industrial maintenanceprogram I think last I checked,
about three-fourths of ourstudents that tested for
michelin got jobs immediately atmichelin, michelin's paying the
rest of their college billwhile the student works
(11:10):
part-time at michelin.
There's no hook that they haveto stay with michelin.
But michelin's program has keptover 90 of those students
because they get them into agood career path.
These, these opportunities forthe students are amazing.
The other key part, I thinkwhere we have an edge over a lot
of traditional education isbeing hands-on.
So the kids see, here's why Ineed to know this math and this
(11:32):
science and I have to knowenough English to make this
report.
We're able to show therelevance of all those skills.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Let's talk a bit about MATC and what you're doing
to help fortify the workforcehere locally.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
So we did an economic impact study through a third
party, and so our alumni andagain study through a third
party, and so our alumni andagain 86% of our students stay
in the region after theygraduate as workers.
Their annual economic impact isover $8 million a year into the
regional economy.
Our operational impact is over$5 million a year.
The new building we put up theimpact on that was over 180
(12:10):
full-time jobs.
So we're not at the level ofK-State they're, you know, the
land-grant university.
We're not that.
We are a regional tech college,but our impact is direct, fast
and local.
Our students tend to come outwith low or no student loan debt
, so their consumer power as anemployee is incredible.
(12:31):
Nurses they get the job withany of the area healthcare
industries.
It's a good paying job.
They're buying a car, they'rebuying a house.
Welding students they're buyinga truck, they're buying a
cooler, they're buying a house.
That consumer impact of ourstudents stays in this region
and it's huge.
So our annual budget is around$9 million a year.
(12:51):
Our economic impact in thisarea is twice that.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
You know and that's one of the things I don't think
people take necessarily into theframe of their mind is that
this type of education isdirectly related to economic
development.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Yep and the chambers in the Potts County Economic
Development.
Both those entities inparticular have been great using
us in that way.
We're a good partner with them.
Again, the PTMW expansion weworked with the chamber.
That incentive package the citycommission looked at to help
this company come here.
We're a key part of that,providing that workforce and
ongoing training.
(13:31):
We're working closely withLandall up at Marysville and as
you know, landall's an importantemployer for the region.
Their products go global.
Well, we're trying to feed morewelders there.
We'll be launching a plumbingprogram this fall new plumbing
program.
You know those folks make goodmoney.
Electrician training will becoming after that, security
(13:52):
technology right after that.
So we're going to be launchingthree pretty good programs
within the next 12 months thathave great earnings power and
they're definitely needed in thecommunity.
In addition, I'm tickled todeath to report that we finally
have bounced back from covidrelated to health care so we
have full classes coming in thefall for both our practical
(14:14):
nursing and registered nursingprograms.
First time since before COVIDand again working with area
schools and other entities, wehave doubled the number of CNA
seats for us to be able to trainpeople to be CNA starting this
fall.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
That's big news.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
Yeah, healthcare, it's huge in this area and we're
a good feeder for that.
Now you know all the healthcarepartners want to thank them.
Yeah, healthcare, it's huge inthis area and we're a good
feeder for that.
Now you know all the healthcarepartners want to thank them.
Via Christie stepped up rightaway to help us.
Community Foundation has aswell, so a lot of good stuff
coming.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
Well, congratulations on all the work and all the
honors you've been receivinghere, and we'll encourage our
listeners to find out more aboutManhattan Area Technical
College at the websitemanhattantechedu.
Jim Jeanette, presidentManhattan Area Technical College
, Keep moving forward.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Sir, you got time for one quick rock and roll trivia
question.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
Okay, go.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Mamma Mia.
The phrase Mamma Mia was numberone in the charts for over 11
weeks, from 75 to 76, first withBohemian Rhapsody, and that
song was knocked off by Abba'ssong Mama Mia.
So the two word phrase Mama Miatop of the charts for 11 weeks.
There's your worthless rock androll trivia for the day.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
And that's a spicy meatball.
Jim, always pleasure to talk toyou.
Thanks for joining us again,congrats and good luck with
everything else you're workingon.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Thank you much.
Thank the foundation forhelping us.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
It's the GMCF Community Hour.
Vern's back in the studioClosing segment coming up in
just a couple of moments here onNewsRadio KMAN.
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