For Immediate Release

Thursday, June 21, 2018

Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: john@jgpr.net

GLTS Awarded $500,000 Skills Capital Grant for Advanced Manufacturing Program

Funding Will Provide New Equipment for Machine Technology, STEAM and Metal Fabrication

ANDOVER — Superintendent John Lavoie is pleased to announce that Greater Lawrence Technical School received a $500,000 Skills Capital Grant from Gov. Charlie Baker this afternoon to enhance its advanced manufacturing program.

Skills Capital Grants, administered through Gov. Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito’s office, are designed to help high schools, colleges and other educational institutions invest in the most up-to-date training equipment to give their students an advantage when they continue in their chosen field or particular area of study. The awards cover a broad array of fields, from construction and engineering to healthcare and hospitality.

GLTS, which received the maximum possible allocation during a ceremony at Salem High School this afternoon, will use the funding to purchase state-of-the-art equipment for machine technology, STEAM and metal fabrication shops, in turn increasing access to both high school students and adults in the community.

New equipment will include a HAAS CNC 5-axis milling machine, Cysta AS-544 coordinate measuring machine, Torchmate 440 FC80 plasma cutting table, multi-material printer, CNC metal/additive printer, multi-material laser cutter and CNC tooling.

“With this new equipment we will be one of the few schools in the state that is able to provide these tools to our students,” Superintendent Lavoie said. “It is with the assistance of the Baker-Polito administration that we are able to continuously provide students with 21st century learning opportunities that will best prepare them for their future education and careers following graduation from GLTS. We are thrilled and so thankful to have received this Skills Capital Grant today.”

The Skills Capital Grants are awarded by Gov. Baker’s Workforce Skills Cabinet. Gov. Baker and Lt. Gov. Polito created the Workforce Skills Cabinet in 2015, bringing together the secretariats of education, labor and workforce development, and housing and economic development in order to align education, economic development and workforce policies, and to strategize around how to meet employers’ demand for skilled workers in each region of the state.

As part of today’s announcement, the Baker-Polito Administration awarded $10.9 million in Skills Capital Grants to 33 high schools and educational institutions. In total, the Baker-Polito Administration has awarded more than $48 million to 157 different programs over the past three years.

“The equipment purchased by high schools and colleges over the past three years through Skills Capital Grants has directly impacted the educational experience for thousands of Massachusetts students to better prepare them for the workforce,” Gov. Baker said. “This program has had a positive impact on students in the Commonwealth and we look forward to working with the legislature to include $75 million worth of funding for Skills Capital Grants as part of the Economic Development bill we filed in the spring.”

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