T-R PHOTO BY TREVOR BABCOCK IVCCD Chancellor Kristie Fisher (right) discusses the Iowa Jobs Training Program with Board of Directors President Larry Johnson (left) and other members of the board.

Five job training agreements were approved by the Iowa Valley Community College Board of Directors at their regular meeting Wednesday night.

The 260F Iowa Jobs Training Program allows community colleges to work with local employers to meet their training needs while the state government provides funds to help offset training expenses.

“We do everything from welding to electrical to leadership training and some technology training,” IVCCD Chancellor Kristie Fisher said. “They’re a wonderful way to support local businesses.”

Agreements approved at the Wednesday meeting include model airplane producer SIG Manufacturing, food provider Natural Products, livestock equipment manufacturer Ritchie Industries, food corporation Cargill and concrete supplier Cessford Construction.

Fisher said the district doesn’t normally have so many training agreements on one meeting agenda, but the COVID-19 pandemic made it hard to collaborate with local employers. Much of work on the training agreements began in the latter part of 2020.

“The fact that we have so many job training agreements on this agenda that we can’t keep them straight is a beautiful thing,” Fisher said.

Training provided to the local employers in the five agreements ranges from equipment safety to team building.

IVCCD Board of Directors also approved a bid for exterior improvements at Marshalltown Community College with a total cost of $433,000. The project includes fixing roofs not repaired after the 2020 derecho and repairing the building’s concrete precast walls.

Construction is slated to begin June 21 with a scheduled completion date of Sept. 30.

The project is in addition to other exterior improvements planned at Marshalltown Community College. The IVCCD Board of Directors approved a plan totaling $3.1 million in cost to improve the parking lots and entryways at the Marshalltown Community College campus.

“Really it will improve the aesthetics and safety of the campus with more lighting,” Fisher said.

The project will allow for the art installation of seven cubes currently located on the west lawn of the campus to be moved to a more central location near the entryways.

The district is expecting construction on this portion of the exterior improvements to be completed by the end of the summer, but if not, will be completed by the end of summer 2022.

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Contact Trevor Babcock at 641-753-6611 or tbabcock@timesrepublican.com.