HCC Foundation receives grant from Caterpillar Foundation for Pontiac Programs

 

[August 14, 2021]   The Caterpillar Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Caterpillar Inc., is helping to create new opportunities for those seeking welding skills and information technology qualifications through support of the Heartland Community College Foundation for programming at Heartland Community College Pontiac.

Opportunities propelled by this donation include funding for welding courses for local residents. The welding courses, held at the Livingston Area Career Center (LACC), provide local students a chance to gain skills that may serve as a foundation for careers in the manufacturing and construction welding fields.

The Welding Skills Certificate provides students with basic skills in industrial welding such as selection and use of appropriate materials, tools, and equipment as well as weld design and inspection. With these skills, students can work in a variety of settings, including manufacturing, construction, and general industry. Students can apply all of these for-credit courses toward the Heartland Industrial Technology Certificate or the Industrial Technology AAS degree.

The Caterpillar Foundation grant also will also extend to HCCP a new Information Technology program. An instructor hired as an IT Facilitator will work with and support IT students at HCCP as they complete their course work in the variety of online learning options Heartland offers, from hybrid courses to online synchronous and open learning/self-paced routes. Students completing the program will earn the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) certificate.

The Caterpillar Foundation seeks to make an impact in communities where Caterpillar employees live and work, and these new philanthropic investments have been driven by demand from local businesses.

Founded in 1952, the Caterpillar Foundation has contributed nearly $810 million to help make sustainable progress possible around the world by building resilient communities that thrive in a rapidly changing world. To learn more about the global impact of the Caterpillar Foundation, visit caterpillar.com/foundation.

[Steve Fast
Director, Public Information
Heartland Community College]