Hartnell Awarded $100,000 from Metallica Scholars Initiative for Veterans Training Partnership

Hartnell College has been selected from a competitive field of community colleges across the country to receive $100,000 for a partnership that will prepare Monterey County veterans for careers in Salinas Valley agriculture and place them in jobs. Funded by Metallica’s All Within My Hands (AWMH) and led by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), the Metallica Scholars Initiative was designed to directly support students while also elevating the importance of career and technical education. This work is highlighted at a global level through the visibility and influence of the heavy metal band Metallica, who continue to speak out on the dignity of professional trades and vital role of community colleges in technical education. The Metallica Scholars Initiative is now in its third year and has fundamentally improved the earning potential for students who become Metallica Scholars. Hartnell College and its lead partners, the Grower-Shippers Association (GSA) of Central California and the Veterans Transition Center (VTC) of Monterey County, will begin working in August with 20 veterans. Over the next year, the participants will complete Hartnell courses in diesel mechanics and related skills on the college’s Alisal Campus while also receiving paid on-the-job training with four GSA member companies that operate in the Salinas Valley. In addition, each student will also receive a toolbox and basic tools worth $2,300. The formerly homeless veterans who’ll take part in the training program are already receiving support services through the VTC, which is located in Marina on the former Fort Ord. The agency provides local veterans and their families with housing, counseling and employment training, among other services. As Metallica Scholars, the experience and success of these student veterans will be showcased to promote varying skilled trade pathways as a means to economic development. “We are honored to join with the Metallica Scholars Initiative and our other partners to bring these individuals who have served in our country’s armed forces into a high-demand career with virtually unlimited opportunity,” said Dr. Raúl Rodríguez, interim superintendent/president of Hartnell. “This model of combining robust support services with hands-on job training holds a lot of promise.” Dr. Edward Frank, executive director of AWMH, said, “The foundation and band pay attention and follow the funded programs and their students, and there is no doubt that lives have been changed. “What makes this work so unique is that in addition to supporting students directly, our goal is not just to change individual lives, it is to unabashedly promote the trades as meaningful and well-paying career pathways. We are not afraid to be loud nor to dig in on things we believe in, and we believe in these students.” Added Walter G. Bumphus, AACC’s president and CEO, “We are proud to work with Metallica to advance the career and technical education provided by the nation’s community colleges. Colleges across the country provide pathways to well-paying jobs through programs, services and training that lead to in-demand skills, certificates and degrees for students. These programs are responsive to the needs of local businesses and provide a pipeline of qualified workers to local industry. It’s a win-win for our students and the local economy. “For Metallica to continue to invest in these students and communities is a testament to the power of the workforce education community colleges provide and we are proud to do this work with them.” James Hetfield, Metallica’s vocalist/guitarist and co-founder said, “As a touring entity we are in direct involvement with multiple essential career choices along our path. From electrical, professional driving, culinary, mechanical maintenance, public safety, logistical organizers. And that just scratches the surface. Those, along with a multitude of other technical careers, make our touring and our performances possible. We are passionate and grateful to these trades and tradespeople.” Hartnell’s partnership with GSA, VTC and local employers is called “Transitioning Veterans from Homelessness to Self-Reliance.” The participating companies are Taylor Farms, Automated Harvesting LLC, Dole Fresh Vegetables and Braga Fresh. Hartnell will provide the veterans with about 1,200 course hours of classroom and laboratory instruction, as well as 460 hours of soft-skills training in such things as resumes, interviewing and handling conflict at work, plus veterans counseling through the Hartnell College Veteran Services Center. The VTC will recruit students from among its clients, provide them with 12 months of housing and transportation to and from work and school and maintain casework and counseling support. Representatives of the four employers will meet the students next month at a mixer event that will kick off the program and help match the veterans with an employer, who also will provide a mentor for each participant. From August through next June, the students are expected to complete a total of 369 hours of on-the-job training at an average salary of $15 an hour, jointly supported by the grant funds and the GSA-member employers. Veterans who successfully complete the program will be offered continued jobs with their employer. Christopher Valadez, GSA president, said the participating employers all understand that the new partnership with Hartnell is an unprecedented opportunity to tap local veterans as a valuable new source of prospective workers. Veterans, whatever their particular military background, typically have abilities that can be adapted to the complex demands of the agricultural industry, he said. “They have experience and skills from being able to work under pressure, being able to plan, to see logistics connections – this whole world surrounding the rigors of military training,” Valadez said. “There’s a whole set of skills there that aligns really well with the needs of multifaceted employers.” He said that in his role as a member of the California State Board of Food and Agriculture, he was able to gain an endorsement for the Hartnell-led partnership from state Secretary of Agriculture Karen Ross, who appreciated its potential as a statewide model. “We believe this can be a successful test case, and a sustainable test case, that says, ‘Holy smokes, we really tapped into something grand,’” Valadez said. “Thank God we have this connection to veterans who are in our own backyard.” In addition to Hartnell, the other MSI sites to date are: Northwest-Shoals Community College, Muscle Shoals, Alabama Pima County Community College, Tucson, Arizona Victor Valley College, Victorville, California Polk State College, Winter Haven, Florida Valencia College, Orlando, Florida North Idaho College, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho Clinton Community College, Clinton, Iowa College of Lake County, Grayslake, Illinois Wichita State University Campus of Applied Sciences and Technology, Wichita, Kansas Elizabethtown Community and Technical College, Elizabethtown, Kentucky Community College of Baltimore County, Baltimore, Maryland Grand Rapids Community College, Grand Rapids, Michigan Central Community College, Grand Island, Nebraska Westchester Community College, Valhalla, New York Central Piedmont Community College, Charlotte, North Carolina Clackamas Community College, Oregon City, Oregon Columbia Gorge Community College, The Dalles, Oregon Lone Star College, The Woodlands, Texas Northern Virginia Community College, Annandale, Virginia Spokane Community College, Spokane, Washington Gateway Technical College, Kenosha, Wisconsin West Virginia University Parkersburg, Parkersburg, West Virginia ### All Within My Hands (AWMH) was established in 2017 by Metallica as a means to invest in the people and places that have supported the band. It also provides a mechanism for Metallica’s fans to become engaged in philanthropy and volunteerism. The Foundation is focused on supporting sustainable communities through workforce education, the fight against hunger, and other critical local services, and is fully supported by the band, the AWMH board, and by fans. All expenses of the Foundation are covered by the band, the board, and a few special friends, so that 100% of donations go to the organizations it supports. AWMH is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization. For more information, please visit www.allwithinmyhands.org. As the voice of the nation’s community colleges, the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), delivers educational and economic opportunity for nearly 12 million diverse students in search of the American Dream. Uniquely dedicated to access and success for all students, AACC’s 1,040 member colleges provide an on-ramp to degree attainment, skilled careers and family-supporting wages. Located in Washington, D.C., AACC advocates for these not-for-profit, public-serving institutions to ensure they have the resources and support they need to deliver on the mission of increasing economic mobility for all.