GCC Increases Job-related Technical Training in Hampshire County

GREENFIELD — Thanks to a recent Skills Capital Grant award from the Commonwealth, Greenfield Community College (GCC) will soon increase its capacity and upgrading its medical assistant certificate (MAC) program by offering additional training at its existing satellite location on the campus of Smith Vocational & Agricultural High School in Northampton. 

The Baker-Polito administration has awarded more than $52 million over the past three years through Skills Capital Grants across the Commonwealth. This round of grants focus on helping residents with barriers to employment, including those who are unemployed or underemployed, lack English proficiency, or do not have degrees or certificates and need new skills to obtain good-paying jobs. The grants cover a broad array of fields from construction and engineering to healthcare and hospitality. 

Greenfield Community College received $83,764 to purchase portable examination tables, patient simulation anatomical trainers, and medical instrument sterilization equipment. The expansion of GCC’s MAC program will provide greater access to technical education and training in Franklin and Hampshire counties to attract recent high-school graduates, incumbent workers looking to gain new skills, and displaced workers training for new careers in healthcare.

Since its inception five years ago, MAC has been one of GCC’s fastest-growing and most successful programs, said Brian Kapitulik, dean of Business & Information Technology, Professional Studies, and Social Sciences, noting that the college’s average annual pass rate on the national exam is nearly 95{06cf2b9696b159f874511d23dbc893eb1ac83014175ed30550cfff22781411e5}, and both its graduate and employer satisfaction surveys consistently hit 100{06cf2b9696b159f874511d23dbc893eb1ac83014175ed30550cfff22781411e5}. “Last year, 93{06cf2b9696b159f874511d23dbc893eb1ac83014175ed30550cfff22781411e5} of our graduates found medical-assisting jobs, while the others continued their studies in related fields, especially nursing.”