Advanced Manufacturing Comes to Massachusetts High School 

Berkshire Community College (BCC), located in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, has just unveiled a new laboratory that will not only benefit students of the college, but high school students as well.

This high-tech lab, containing advanced manufacturing equipment, is located at Taconic High School (THS). Its goal is to educate students and to give them the technical skills that they will need in the manufacturing workplace, and hopefully pour more skilled workers into the dwindling talent pool.

BCC President Ellen Kennedy was confident that even in this ever-changing industry, the lab would have a significant impact. “We have companies right here in the Berkshires that are producing products that have a global reach,” Kennedy says “Our partnership with Taconic High School aims to encourage students to become interested in Advanced Manufacturing early on – as well as affording BCC students the opportunity to attain the skills needed to find solid jobs in a highly employable sector. 

The Massachusetts Community Colleges & Workforce Development Transformation Agenda funded the lab by a $20,000,000 Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration.

With it, the lab will provide BCC students with a curriculum focused on all aspects of production manufacturing. BCC even offers several different certificate and degree programs, one of which is an associate’s degree in Manufacturing Technology.

Taconic High School currently has a Manufacturing Technology Program that already has over 30 students participating. This program gives the students an early look into the world of manufacturing. Taconic and BCC have been partners in manufacturing education for the past six years and this new lab should only strengthen that bond.

“Berkshire Community College has provided collaboration between college, high school and workforce development which will address the skill set required for today's 21st Century student and workforce. A new level of student learning now exists at Taconic High School. Students are able to program Computer Numerical Control machines as well as robotics. Students are able to design a 3D solid model and then make a prototype on the 3D printer. This [sic] type of advanced skills are being taught at your top colleges. The best part is we have it right here in Pittsfield,” said Mark Lausier, a THS Manufacturing Tech faculty member.