Collaborative Research: EPIIC: Building Opportunities for Outstanding Skills Training in Advanced Manufacturing for Southeastern Two-Year Colleges (BOOST)

The BOOST project (Building Opportunities for Outstanding Skills Training in Advanced Manufacturing for Southeastern Two-Year Colleges) addresses the urgent need for a skilled workforce in advanced manufacturing within the Southeastern United States. This project is a collaborative effort between Tidewater Community College (TCC) (VA), Northeast State Community College (NeSCC) (TN), and Spartanburg Community College (SCC) (SC). The goal is to create and sustain a thriving innovation ecosystem by fostering collaborative partnerships between academia and public and private sectors to support the regional growth of advanced manufacturing. By enhancing the capacity of these institutions to provide nimble education and training systems, BOOST will prepare a diverse array of underserved populations for careers in advanced manufacturing, thereby maintaining U.S. competitiveness in a global economy, fostering innovation, and providing education and training that keep pace with industry advancements. BOOST will address the shortage of skilled workers in advanced manufacturing through a comprehensive approach involving institutional and cohort-level activities. The project will build institutional connections between two-year colleges and the advanced manufacturing industry by organizing partnership convening events, revitalizing industry advisory board engagement using Business and Industry Leadership Team (BILT) or similar models and providing professional development for faculty and staff. Dedicated staff will be employed to focus on partnership development, and processes and programming will be optimized by creating toolkits, models, and resources for best practices to be shared broadly for implementation at other institutions and with other industries. These activities will enhance and sustain partnerships, enabling colleges to respond effectively to workforce needs and participate actively in innovation ecosystems. The collaborative efforts will be tailored to serve the diverse array of underserved populations across the partner institutions, ensuring broad and inclusive participation in the advanced manufacturing sector. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.