Clark College in Vancouver, WA

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News Release

Clark College Receives State Grant For Healthcare Workforce Development (Photo) -07/29/25

VANCOUVER, Wash. — Clark College has been awarded $130,000 by the Washington State Board of Community and Technical Colleges to launch the Healthcare Pathways Regional Coordination for Southwest Washington. This project, which will be implemented in 2026, will support local healthcare workforce development by expanding awareness of career pathways and strengthening collaboration between education and industry partners. 

Led by Dr. Scot Headley, Dean of Business and Health Sciences, the initiative focuses on three key objectives: 

  • Solidifying and expanding regional partnerships through dedicated coordination and leadership
  • Bridging K-12 and postsecondary pathways
  • Creating outreach materials that promote prospective student awareness of healthcare pathways in the region

The Healthcare Pathways Regional Coordination is one of 12 community and technical college projects to receive workforce development funds, which aim to help industry thrive and expand in Washington state while continuing to support the development of a skilled workforce.

“The project model is to develop a regional alliance amongst all healthcare partners,” Dr. Headley explained. “Regional partnerships allow innovation in the options available to reskill or upskill workers, including apprenticeships or work-based learning. And, strong partnerships between education and industry will allow continuous feedback to ensure graduates have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to be workforce-ready—not just for an individual school, program, or hospital, but across the entire healthcare industry.”

Meeting a Growing Demand

The need for healthcare professionals in Southwest Washington is on the rise. The healthcare industry currently represents nearly 10% of the Gross Regional Product in the region. Within Clark College’s service area—Clark, Skamania, and Klickitat counties—the healthcare industry is expected to grow by 35.2% over the next 10 years, outpacing the 26.5% national average. Regional employers continue to face challenges in recruiting and retaining healthcare professionals.

By partnering with community and industry leaders, Clark College will address these challenges head-on. Project collaborators include Educational Service District 112 and regional school districts, Workforce Southwest Washington, Washington State Allied Health Center of Excellence, Vancouver Clinic, Legacy Health, PeaceHealth, labor partners such as OFNHP and SEIU Education Fund, and multiple Clark College departments.

This new funding builds on the foundational work already in progress. In 2024, Clark College helped establish a regional partnership focused on healthcare pathways, bringing together healthcare professionals, educators, and workforce experts. Under a previous leadership grant in collaboration with ESD 112, the college hosted educational summits to align K-12 and postsecondary curricula, strengthening dual-credit opportunities and streamlining pathways to industry-recognized credentials in high-demand fields. 

Building on this momentum, Clark College hosted an inaugural Healthcare Pathways Education and Industry Summit with more than 75 healthcare professionals, educators, and workforce development experts. This Career Connect Southwest initiative, co-hosted by the Washington State Allied Health Center of Excellence and Workforce Southwest Washington, identified a need for:

  • Intentional partnerships between education and industry.
  • Improved communication across sectors
  • Clearly defined career pathways for students—including those who do not plan to earn a four-year degree.
  • More hands-on opportunities for students. 

Vickei Hrdina, ESD 112’s Director of K-12 Workforce-Higher Ed Partnerships and Executive Director of Career Connect Southwest, said, “By developing a clear roadmap for aligning high school Career and Technical Education with post-secondary training and real workforce needs, we’ve taken a significant step toward building a more seamless talent pipeline.”

The Healthcare Pathways Regional Coordination for Southwest Washington will move this work forward, establishing a long-term regional approach to addressing workforce development needs across the region. 

About Clark College’s Health Care Programs

Clark College Health Care and Biosciences program allows students to learn from industry experts and practice skills in state-of-the-art facilities. As the home to one of the oldest and most respected nursing programs in the region, Clark has an established reputation as a premier trainer of health care professionals. Learn more about Clark College’s health care program here: https://www.clark.edu/academics/programs/health-care-and-biosciences/

About the Washington State Board of Community and Technical Colleges

The Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges is led by a governor-appointed board and provides leadership, advocacy, and coordination for Washington’s system of 34 public community and technical colleges. Each year, about 290,000 students train for the workforce, prepare to transfer to a university, gain basic math and English skills, or pursue continuing education. Learn more about SBCTC here: https://www.sbctc.edu/

About Clark College 

Founded in 1933, Clark College provides residents of Southwest Washington with affordable, high-quality academic and technical education. Clark is a public community college offering more than 100 degree and certificate programs, including bachelor’s and associate degrees; professional certificates; high school diplomas and GED preparation; and non-credit community and continuing education. Clark serves a wide range of students including high school students, displaced workers, veterans, parents, non-native English speakers, and mature learners. Approximately 45% of its students are in the first generation of their families to attend college.   

Clark College is Southwest Washington’s largest public institution of higher education and serves over 8,000 students per term. Construction has been completed on the new Advanced Manufacturing Center at Boschma Farms in Ridgefield, Washington, where the inaugural cohort of Advanced Manufacturing students will begin classes in Fall 2025.

Learn more about applying to Clark College here: https://www.clark.edu/getstarted/.

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Clark College Launches Advanced Manufacturing Program Fall 2025 (Photo) -07/17/25

Two-year degree program begins at Clark’s new Advanced Manufacturing Center at Boschma Farms in Ridgefield
                                                                                                                             

VANCOUVER, Wash. — Clark College will launch a new Associate in Applied Technology program, the first of its kind in Southwest Washington. The first cohort will begin taking classes in 2025 fall term, with most classes taking place at Clark's new Advanced Manufacturing Center (AMC) at Boschma Farms, 7000 E. Pioneer Street in Ridgefield. The expected graduation for this first cohort is in spring 2027.

Clark’s Advanced Manufacturing program offers one degree and two embedded and/or stackable certificates—educational pathways designed to integrate practical training within a degree and/or build credentials over time, allowing for flexibility and career advancement:

  • Degree: Associate in Applied Technology (AAT): Integrated Technician, 98 credits
  • Certificate of Achievement: Intro to Manufacturing, 31 credits
  • Certificate of Proficiency: Manufacturing Operator, 44 credits

The AAT degree can be completed in two years, requiring 98 credits, and includes 19 Advanced Manufacturing specialized courses.

Planned curriculum list a range of classes in areas of programming, material science, robotics, metrology, systems integration, CAD/CAM, manual manufacturing, welding, blueprints and schematics. See Advanced Manufacturing program map here.

Program Learning Outcomes

Graduates of the Advanced Manufacturing program will be prepared to:

  • Function effectively as members of professional teams in advanced manufacturing environments.
  • Safely operate manufacturing tools and equipment applying Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
  • Apply skills in Computer Aided Drafting (CAD), Computer Aided Machining (CAM), Geometric Dimensioning Tolerance (GDT), mathematic principles, precision measurement, and Quality Assurance (QA) practices in manufacturing assemblies.
  • Identify materials and apply knowledge of material properties to advanced manufacturing processes.
  • Use specific software programs for Robotics, Additive Manufacturing (AM) and Subtractive Manufacturing (SM) processes.

The Advanced Manufacturing Center and new degree program represent the culmination of years of planning and collaboration with collaboration by regional employers, industry representatives, workforce development, and faculty—past and present—who shared a vision “to expand opportunities for students and support regional workshop needs.”

“With support from the state, the Clark College Foundation, and countless volunteers who generously contributed their time and expertise, we’re proud to launch this new pathway,” said Theo Koupelis, Dean of Workforce, Professional & Technical Education and STEM. “We are deeply grateful to everyone who made this possible and look forward to welcoming our first cohort in Fall 2025.”

“This advanced manufacturing center is a big step forward for Clark College and our region,” said Clark College President Karin Edwards. “By investing in high-demand workforce education, we’re empowering students to build meaningful careers while supporting the economic vitality of Southwest Washington. This is the kind of innovation that defines our mission and our future.” 

Other Washington community colleges offering Advanced Manufacturing programs include Bellingham Technical College, Edmonds College, Everett Community College, Skagit Valley College and Renton Technical College.

Clark’s Advanced Manufacturing program

Manufacturing is one of the largest industries in Southwest Washington. Higher than-average growth is projected in advanced manufacturing companies in the United States (source: EMSI), and the region has been facing shortage of entry-level and skilled advanced manufacturing workers as jobs created is double that of students graduating with relevant degrees (see chart). 

The broad Advanced Manufacturing sector provides an array of job opportunities in hundreds of occupations encompassing material science, computer-assisted drafting and design, subtractive and additive manufacturing, mechatronics, rapid prototyping, programming, robotics, welding/fabrication, renewable energy, composites, and reverse engineering. 

Clark College’s Advanced Manufacturing Center at Boschma Farms in Ridgefield will help students acquire skills for family-wage jobs in these high-demand fields, offering both credit and non-credit workforce education and training tailored to current and future labor market demands. The program provides pathways through stackable degrees and certificates with multiple entry and exit points. The program currently includes a Certificate of Achievement, a Certificate of Proficiency, and an Associate of Applied Technology degree. 

With the support of our Washington State legislators, Clark College received $1.5 million in federal earmark funding for advanced manufacturing. This supports high-quality, hands-on learning with a focus on the manufacturing “high bay” for hands-on learning that replicates a work environment. The AMC includes integrated manufacturing cells, subtractive manufacturing lab, and material science lab which will host new welding, cutting, fabrication, measurement and testing equipment.

Fall Classes at the Ridgefield location

Fall classes will include an expanded selection of general education classes, along with the launch of the Advanced Manufacturing program. 

Available classes include:

·      Advanced Manufacturing Career Exploration

·      Manual Manufacturing

·      OSHA 10 Safety

·      College Essentials: Introduction to Clark

·      College Trigonometry

·      English Composition 1

·      Environmental Biology

·      Introduction to Economics

·      General Psychology

Community and Continuing Education classes at AMC at Boschma Farms are listed here.

About the Advanced Manufacturing Center at Boschma Farms

Located on a 10-acre property due east of the Ridgefield Junction, the 49,000 square foot Advanced Manufacturing Center features a vast open manufacturing floor, collaboration zones, satellite instructional facilities, classrooms, laboratories, offices and more. The 35,000 square feet dedicated to manufacturing training includes three industry-specific classrooms, four labs, five manufacturing cells and a vast open manufacturing floor. The remaining 14,000 square feet features five general education classrooms and one computer lab, with a future capacity to serve up to 1,200 students per term.

About Clark College 

Founded in 1933, Clark College provides residents of Southwest Washington with affordable, high-quality academic and technical education. Clark is a public community college offering more than 100 degree and certificate programs, including bachelor’s and associate degrees; professional certificates; high school diplomas and GED preparation; and non-credit community and continuing education. Clark serves a wide range of students including high school students, displaced workers, veterans, parents, non-native English speakers, and mature learners. Approximately 45% of its students are in the first generation of their families to attend college.   

Clark College is Southwest Washington’s largest public institution of higher education and serves over 8,000 students per term. Construction has been completed on the new Advanced Manufacturing Center at Boschma Farms in Ridgefield, Washington, where the inaugural cohort of Advanced Manufacturing students will begin classes in Fall 2025. 

Learn more about applying to Clark College here - https://www.clark.edu/getstarted/

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