Be sure to check out these recent stories that feature DMACC and members of our College community:
KNIA-KRLS Radio (9/5/24), "Newton High School Students Are Taking Advantage of DMACC Courses" — Newton High School’s new principal says a high percentage of Newton students are taking advantage of the courses offered at Newton High School that carry college credits at Des Moines Area Community College. The courses are taught by High School instructors certified by DMACC. Michael Dale took over as Newton High School Principal July 1, following the retirement of 20-year Principal Bill Peters. Dale calls the DMACC course offerings an important tool in preparing Newton graduates for their future ... read more.
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Business Record (9/4/24), "Two Dealerships Working with DMACC on Power Equipment Technology Degree, Internships" — A second company has joined Des Moines Area Community College’s program that lets students earn associate degrees while employed as interns at an agricultural dealership. Van Wall Equipment was the initial partner with DMACC on the Power Equipment Technology program in 2022. K.C. Nielsen Ltd., which has 11 Iowa locations, is joining as a second John Deere dealership sponsor this fall ... read more.
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Iowa Capital Dispatch (9/2/24), "DMACC Partners With Intel for AI Skills Curriculum Development" — Des Moines Area Community College is working to incorporate artificial intelligence skills training across its program offerings through a partnership with Intel. The community college is set to become the first Intel AI for Workforce College partner in Iowa, with more than 110 participating universities spread throughout the U.S. Working with the company, DMACC will develop a non-credit certificate program this fall to teach students how to effectively use AI in the workplace, DMACC President Rob Denson said, with credit courses and AI competency curriculum to be worked into different areas of the college in the future ... read more.
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Transport Topics (8/28/24), "States Boost CDL Training to Tackle Local Driver Shortages" — A handful of states are taking varied approaches to bolster the ranks of commercial truck drivers in the nation. U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) announced recently that four community colleges in his state received a total of $509,775 in U.S. Department of Transportation grants to expand their CDL training programs. In northern Des Moines, DMACC is constructing an 8,600-square-foot transportation institute, which will nearly double its CDL enrollment capacity. The facility, set to open in 2025, will include classrooms, a three-story inspection bay and study area. DMACC President Rob Denson, a CDL holder who drove trucks to pay for his college education, said the institute will significantly increase its pool of new drivers once the facility is complete next year. Trained truck drivers are in extremely high demand and our DMACC Transportation Institute graduates are finding themselves more valued than ever in today’s job market,” Denson said. “Recruiters from both local and over-the-road companies visit us weekly and many students obtain jobs even before they graduate" ... read more.
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Radio Iowa (8/28/24), "Acclaimed Author Whose New Book Reimagines Waco Siege Makes Iowa Stops" — An internationally best-selling novelist and an alum of the Iowa Writer’s Workshop is appearing in Des Moines and Iowa City this week, while headlining the opening of the 22nd Annual DMACC Celebration of Literary Arts. Bret Anthony Johnston is director of the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas at Austin and says he’s thrilled to be returning to the Hawkeye State, saying, “my time in Iowa changed my life" ... read more and listen to the interview.
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Iowa Capital Dispatch (8/26/24), "Brazilian Higher Education, Government Leaders Visit DMACC as Part of Iowa Tour" — Des Moines Area Community College took the first step in expanding its international relations with visitors from Brazil’s state of Mato Grosso, who toured the community college Monday to learn more about its operations and offerings. Representatives from Brazil’s government and Mato Grosso universities visited DMACC Urban Campus on their first day of a tour of central Iowa, which began with a meeting with Gov. Kim Reynolds. The group will also visit agriculture organizations and businesses, Iowa State University departments and the Farm Progress Show. The group will also attend the Minnesota State Fair before traveling home. Evandro Soares, director of the Federal University of Mato Grosso, said he was glad to visit DMACC and form a relationship between the state’s universities and explore possible partnerships for teaching, outreach and innovation ... read more.
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Iowa Capital Dispatch (8/26/24), "Iowa Community Colleges Receive Federal Support to Expand CDL Training Programs" — Four Iowa community colleges will receive support for their commercial driver’s license training programs through U.S. Department of Transportation grants. Des Moines Area Community College, Hawkeye Community College, Iowa Central Community College and Western Iowa Tech Community College will receive a combined total of almost $510,000 to expand their CDL programs, according to a news release from U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley ... read more.
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WHO-TV NBC 13 (8/26/24), "Brazilian Delegation Tours DMACC Urban Campus" — The largest community college had a chance to show off to a world audience today. Des Moines Area Community College hosted an 11-member delegation from Brazil ... watch here.
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WHO-TV NBC 13 (8/26/24), "Heat Doesn’t Deter Golfers, Farm Progress Show in Boone" — The heat didn’t keep golfers off Cedar Point Golf Course in Boone on Monday. The DMACC Men’s Golf team was at the golf course. They were getting in the coach-required nine holes a day, but it was their choice to hit the links in the afternoon. The team made the NJCAA National Golf Championship last season and want to make it back again this year ... more here.
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Corridor Business Journal (8/20/24), "UI Venture School Accepting Applications for Fall 2024 Cohort" — The University of Iowa Venture School entrepreneurial program is gearing up for another season, accepting applications for its Fall 2024 cohort. The statewide program launches the week of Sept. 23, meeting one night a week for seven weeks in six different locations. The class attendance will vary by location, with some offering fully remote, hybrid, or in-person options for the program’s duration, and each Venture School team will be assigned a local entrepreneur as its coach. The session’s final class is a Venture School Launch Day Competition, held the week of Nov. 4, and the cost is $299 per team. The program's Des Moines cohort is sponsored by Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) and MidIowa SBDC and meets Wednesdays (starting Sept. 25) at the DMACC Urban Campus .... read more.
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WHO 1040 News Radio (8/18/24), "Focus on Iowa" — On this week's "Focus" public affairs program, demand is rising for services in Iowa's Aging and Disability Office, and Director Zach Rhein explains how Iowans are connecting with those services; plus, Karen Swanson of DMACC and Wendy Mihm of Iowa Jobs for America's Graduates (iJAG) discuss a pilot program that enables Des Moines high school students to earn college credit while in high school ... listen here.
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Iowa Soybean Association (8/15/24), "Soybean Camera Offers Viewers a Glimpse Into Soybean Growth" — The green pods are ready for their closeup in 2024, as the Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) Camera turns its attention to soybeans. The live DMACC Iowa Soybean Camera, powered by Champion Seed, offers an immersive glimpse into the heart of agricultural life. This webcam provides an up-close and real-time view of the soybean growth cycle at the DMACC farm north of Adel ... read more.
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KCCI-TV CBS 8 (8/14/24), "Dozens Pack Room During Community-Led Town Hall Focused on Des Moines Homelessness Ordinances" — A room was packed with people at the DMACC Urban Campus on Wednesday night, during a community-led town hall event that focused on concerns regarding proposed ordinances Des Moines city council members are looking into that would impact the city's homeless population. A U.S. Supreme Court decision handed down in June is making it easier for cities to remove homeless camps and people who sleep in public spaces. Cities across the country are looking into their ordinances, like Des Moines ... more here.
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Center for Rural Affairs (8/13/24), "Iowa Community Colleges Meet Rising Demand for Clean Energy Workers" — The economic boom of clean energy across the Midwest has accelerated the demand for a qualified workforce in a rapidly growing industry. According to Clean Jobs Midwest, more than 734,000 new jobs have been created across the Midwest since 2022, and that number is expected to grow as projects funded through the federal Inflation Reduction Act begin. The IRA, passed in 2022, has infused nearly $370 billion nationwide into the renewable energy sector. In addition to the new capital, the IRA provides tax credits to incentivize high labor standards, such as ensuring equitable wages for workers during the deployment of clean energy projects. To meet the growing demand for workers to install, maintain, and repair the equipment, community colleges and technical schools, including Iowa Lakes Community College and Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC), offer technical training programs to supply students with the hands-on experience and essential skills needed to work as renewable energy technicians ... read more.
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CBS National "Eye On America" Segment (8/12/24), "Workers Face Uncertainty After Closure of Tyson Plant That Employed 25% of Iowa Town" — Joe Swanson, a resident of Perry, Iowa, is no longer working in the town he loves and where his kids go to school. That's because the city's largest employer, a Tyson Foods pork plant, recently shut down. Swanson says when the company announced in March they were shuttering the plant, he couldn't risk unemployment because of his health issues. So when he found a new job with health benefits, he says he took it and left Tyson around six weeks before it officially closed on June 28. The plight of the so-called "one-factory" town is not new. In the 1970s, Youngstown, Ohio, was a thriving steel city of 140,000 people. The mills closed, and now the population is less than half of what it used to be, according to U.S. Census data. Ohio was hit hard again in 2008, when a shipping hub in Wilmington closed, leaving 42% of the working age population without a job. In Farmerville, Louisiana, a chicken plant that employed more than a third of the town shut down in 2009, the CBS News data team found. Back in Perry, people like Nacho Calderon are learning from history. After being laid off at the Tyson plant, he hopes to become a garbage or concrete truck driver. Driving garbage trucks in Perry requires a commercial drivers license. The local community college (DMACC) is giving trucking classes for free to give workers a shot at staying in town. Calderon says he's sad he lost his job, and also for his coworkers who may not have cars or much money to help them get back on their feet ... more here.
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TheTrucker.com (8/12/24), "DMACC's Transportation Institute Receives Donation for Facility Construction" — The Des Moines Area Community College’s foundation got a substantial donation recently, according to a release from the school. Prairie Meadows recently awarded a Legacy Grant totaling $100,000 to the DMACC Foundation to help fund the construction of a new DMACC Transportation Institute on the north side of Des Moines. Prairie Meadows is a nonprofit organization dedicated to lessening the burden of government by promoting economic development, jobs, agriculture and tourism in the state of Iowa. The new DMACC Transportation Institute will allow the college to nearly double its enrollment capacity to help train the next generation of truck drivers ... read more.
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Iowa Capital Dispatch (8/12/24), "DMACC Moves Ahead With New Facilities Planning for Dental, Diesel Programs" — Seeping groundwater. Cracked and bowing walls. Outdated equipment and facilities never meant to be utilized for so long. Des Moines Area Community College Board of Trustees members saw these first-hand Monday while touring buildings on the Ankeny campus slated for possible renovation or demolition under the college’s new facilities master plan. During its meeting, the board discussed two capital projects slated as priorities within the facilities master plan. The projects encompass programs in need of larger, more modern spaces. DMACC President Rob Denson said in an interview that the college hasn’t focused on these buildings for renovations or demolition before now because there have been other needs across campus and a limited amount of money. The faculty and staff have done a lot to keep the buildings suitable for use up until now, he said. “We want to get every ounce of life out of every facility we’ve got, and we pretty much don’t move on a new facility and tear something down until we’re at the end of life,” Denson said ... read more.