Career Academy Incentive Fund grant helps meet student and industry demands in Grinnell with a state-of-the-art automotive technology lab

As industry demands and student interest in automotive technology surged on the Grinnell campus of Iowa Valley Community College, staff knew they’d never be able to meet the community’s needs unless their facility grew along with their program.

Operating for many years out of a corner of the Grinnell-Newberg Community School District’s bus garage, instructor Erik Glass worried about not only providing adequate hands-on, real-world instruction to students but also those students eventually having to travel outside of Grinnell to continue their education at more modern facilities.

Those worries are gone as the Grinnell campus recently opened a brand-new $1.2 million, 7,000-square-foot automotive technology lab with state-of-the-art equipment, tools and opportunities for students to gain hands-on experience. While the program currently has approximately 20 students enrolled, Glass anticipates possibly doubling that number with the increased space and resources.

“It allows for more hands-on learning,” Glass said. “We only had three lifts before, and now we have nine. There are so many more things they can do and a lot more hours of hands-on work.”

The facility was funded in part by a $1 million competitive grant through the state’s Career Academy Incentive Fund, which provides targeted grants to support partnerships between school districts and community colleges that expand access to career academy programs.

“This investment is a win for students, families, and employers and it directly advances the Iowa Department of Education’s mission to ensure all students experience a world-class education,” said Iowa Department of Education Career and Technical Education Bureau Chief Cale Hutchings. “By expanding modern, hands-on training as part of our multiple pathways priority, we’re helping more learners gain the skills and credentials local businesses need to stay competitive without having to leave their community to find opportunity.”

Annually, the Iowa Department of Education awards up to $5 million in Career Academy Incentive Fund grants for projects.

“Within our standard funding, a project like this is hard to pull off,” said Iowa Valley Grinnell Dean Ashtyn Beek. “The grant really allows us to move a program like this forward, not only for Grinnell, but also for our whole district. Now the instructor has all the tools to focus on instruction without worrying about facility limitations. This was a no-brainer for Iowa Valley and the Career Academy Incentive Fund grant is one of the best things to help the K12-community college partnership.”

For students in the program, the facility's impact has already been felt since its opening in the first months of the spring semester. With ample space, three times as many lifts and an environment that mimics a professional facility, students have felt their learning accelerate.

“I was pretty excited watching the construction progress and seeing them building a professional setting with lots of room, lifts, toolboxes and everything in one place,” said Isaiah Dykemen, a first-year student from Kellogg. “It’s nice to work and learn in a professional environment with the modern lifts and tools we’ll work with in the field that gives us an edge in our career.”

For Natalie Stocks, a junior at nearby BGM High School, the ability to work on multiple makes and models of cars in their entirety provides a more complete experience, as she and other students noted how critical it is to learn to operate within the tight confines of an engine compartment.

“This is going to be so much better than what we’ve been working with,” Stocks said. “It’s bigger, has extra lifts and technology we didn’t have access to before. With the space, this is going to be so much better with being able to work on full cars and not just engines or parts of the car.”

Dykemen added that professional technicians from local dealerships and shops who have visited the facility and spoken to students have raved about how it and the program’s curriculum mirror the workplace and the skills needed to succeed professionally.

The ability to better prepare students also translates into increased retention as students advance in the program. Glass expects to see significant improvement in this area as he has regularly seen students leave the program after their first year to continue their education at other nearby community college campuses such as Marshalltown, Kirkwood and Des Moines Area Community College that have better on-campus facilities to train students.

“When I started this program, I thought I would have to go to Marshalltown because of their facility, and I was worried about making that drive every day back and forth from school,” said Paxton Bailey, a senior at Grinnell-Newberg High School.  “When I realized I could do that in Grinnell with a three-minute drive, I thought that was awesome, and I enjoy that closeness and chance to stay in Grinnell.”’

Bailey is the grandson of a mechanic who became interested in the field after coaxing life back into a $300 used car under his grandfather’s tutelage. With the ability to remain close to home, he hopes to rekindle that family legacy with a shop of his own in Grinnell someday after gaining more experience at a local dealership.

“A big piece of why we wanted to build this facility was to create local opportunities,” said Iowa Valley Community College Provost Matt Schmidt. “We knew that if students were interested in moving forward, they’d probably go somewhere else. Now we expect them to be excited to stay around here because we are way more competitive.”

Keeping those students nearby is critical for local businesses, as Schmidt received regular feedback from the program’s CTE advisory board on the constant need for high-quality, well-trained professionals in the field and Glass commented on not always being able to fill those needs with students from Grinnell’s program due to the facility limitations.

“For a long time, this program has had all the ingredients except for a facility,” Beek said. "We've had student interest and a quality instructor. We made do with what we could, but did not have a facility that replicated what they’ll see in the workforce. And now we do.”