June 19, 2025 Tooling Systems Group (TSG) has a voracious appetite for apprentices who can learn hands-on skills in die design and building, machining, manufacturing automation and more. And of their 450 employees in West Michigan, approximately two-thirds have graduated from GRCC. Jim Grotenrath is a good example. “I started my tooling career ‘on the floor,’” said Grotenrath. “I worked my way up through the organization, and took the owner up on an opportunity to be an equity partner in a related business.” Now Jim is president of the company. He’s also a proud GRCC graduate. In fact, Jim is one of almost 300 employees —including 8 of 10 presidents — who have studied at GRCC. “GRCC plays a huge role in our hiring and staffing,” said Lindsey Bosch, Vice President of Legal and Human Resources. “We have 10 apprenticeship programs registered with the Department of Labor. We tried other avenues but find we get the best, most consistent results with GRCC. Their graduates are head and shoulders above others.” An apprenticeship comprises approximately 8,000 hours of on-the-job training, plus approximately 600 classroom hours. Sam Dougherty followed this demanding path to earn his journeyman die maker certification through TSG and GRCC. “I started on the floor right after high school,” Dougherty said. “I got a little bored with doing the same thing day after day. When I was offered the opportunity to participate in the apprenticeship program, I jumped at the chance.”   Sam says GRCC played a big role in helping him stay on track. “You work all day, and then take courses at night” Dougherty said. “That’s a lot to handle, and it takes four years. The teachers are willing to work with you, which is really helpful. I’m not a lecture-style learner, so I loved the hands-on work and variety.” TSG places a high value on employees like Sam. “We are always looking for good candidates for our apprenticeship programs,” Bosch said. “After someone has worked for us for about 6-12 months and demonstrated their work ethic, we often approach them, like we did Sam, to gauge their interest. If they commit to the education, we pay for it, provided they maintain a B- GPA or above. They also earn regular raises during their apprenticeship. Our business requires people with these skills, so we invest to find, train and retain them.” Jim points out that manufacturing, especially in tool and die, offers incredible variety and opportunity. “Manufacturing has changed so much,” Grotenrath said. “There’s a lot more automation and mental work. It’s not all just the physical labor you may envision in a factory. Our various companies hire die makers, quality engineers, die designers, operations managers, electricians, robot programmers and much more. These are great paying jobs with lots of opportunity. We just need to bring people up and train them to do the work.” TSG designs and builds metal stamping dies that are used to manufacture parts for automotive, aerospace and many other industries. A stamping die is a bit like a big cookie cutter. As sheet metal runs through a machine, a hydraulic press exerts force on the die to stamp (or shape) the metal with various bends, holes and other design elements. Sam loves the hands-on aspect of the work. “I’m doing something different every day,” Dougherty said. “Die design is complicated. You have to understand the customer’s manufacturing system. You have to be able to envision the outcome in 3D. It’s like a big puzzle you have to figure out.” GRCC professor Jeff Stuecken worked in manufacturing for his entire career. In his role now as an educator, he thinks of GRCC as a partner to industry. “We’re preparing students for careers,” Stuecken said. “I could tell that Sam was going to be a leader and I loved watching him grow.  He’s one more person we’ve prepared for a career. Industry needs us and we need industry. The relationship with TSG has made our program even better.” The partnership is a two-way street. For example, both TSG and GRCC invested in sample dies that would help students gain more hands-on experience. “Sam designed a simple die that would stamp fishing lures,” Stuecken said. “TSG then built two copies of that die. They paid for one and kept it at their facility for training. GRCC paid a small fraction of the actual cost for the other, and Sam helped install it in our automation lab. Now our students can see how a running die stamp actually works.” Sam points out that GRCC is an excellent place to learn hands-on career skills. “I learned to run grinders, saws, precision measuring tools and much more at GRCC,” Dougherty said. “Everything I did at GRCC, I now do here. The professors know what they are doing. I literally spent four hours at school every day practicing what I did in the shop. And this is like any other skill. The more you do it, the better you become, until finally you are a master.” Learn more about Mechanical Design at GRCC.  

June 17, 2025 When two organizations come together around a shared mission to meet a community need, the result can be transformative. The collaboration between Grand Rapids Community College (GRCC) and Kent Intermediate School District (Kent ISD) is a powerful example — and it earned statewide recognition. The partnership received the 2025 Michigan Adult Education Program Partnership of the Year award.  “Our partnership creates an equal gain for the students in both programs. A good partnership is built for the future,” said David Selmon, GRCC’s dean of strategic outreach and leader of the initiative. The two programs united their strengths under one roof, bringing together different instructional models to better serve the adult education community. As a part of the partnership, Kent ISD’s Adult Education program moved from its former location in an elementary school to the same building as GRCC’s program — a strategic decision that removed barriers and opened up new opportunities.  “Students have access to state-of-the-art technology as well as top-notch counseling every step of the way,” said Selmon. “Since we’re on the bus line, the worry of transportation for some students is no longer an issue. They can be dropped off right at the front door. For students who need food assistance, or those who have limited time because they’re balancing work and school, they can come and eat before or after class with our cafeteria services. These are just a few examples of the benefits of the partnership. As a team, under one roof, we can better help students find the pathway that fits their individual needs.”  A Personal Perspective on the Power of Adult Education Elino Cortes Figuereo, GRCC’s Adult Education program manager, knows firsthand the impact of the program. Originally from the Dominican Republic, he came to the United States in 2012 to study English. He relied on the guidance of the people around him to know which direction to turn.  “When I moved here, everything was by recommendation from other people,” said Figuereo. “When I heard about the GRCC Adult Education program, I was excited. I wanted to have a place where I could grow. A place I could learn how the education system works here in the US. It’s completely different from my home country.” After completing the program himself, Figuereo joined GRCC as a staff member in 2014.  “GRCC was a place I could ask questions freely and without judgement. I met a lot of people going through the same thing as me — wanting to learn English and grow in their education. It’s encouraging to see we can relate to one another while also having different pathways,” Figuereo said. “My time in the program helped develop my passion for education. Now, I’ve been working with GRCC since 2014. It’s a dream being a part of the support system I once relied on when I was a student.” Figuereo’s personal experience with the program motivates him every day. “I know a lot of things are uncertain right now, but we’re offering a safe space today. That makes a big difference for tomorrow,” he said. “I always see challenges as an opportunity to grow and learn. That’s one of things I love about what I do — helping empower someone to pursue the dream they have for themselves is an amazing privilege.”  Complementary Strengths The collaboration between GRCC and Kent ISD was the result of intentional, ongoing conversations. It quickly became clear the two organizations had complementary strengths — and could support one another in ways that made their combined efforts stronger than either could offer alone. “The state wanted to make sure we weren’t being redundant in our offerings,” said Selmon. “Students can transition easily between spaces. We showed how we complemented one another. It just made sense.” Figuereo added, “I knew we had a lot of students interested in getting their GED, but we didn’t offer that at GRCC anymore. Some people from Kent ISD wanted to pursue post-secondary opportunities with college. We worked to remove as many barriers as possible so our students could excel.”  In just one year, the partnership moved from being a conversation to award-winning, an example of what happens when organizations commit to collaboration with equity at the center. “Our collaboration helps make college courses feel more accessible for our students,” Selmon said. “Our number one goal was to make sure it was right for the community. We should be responsible to the community since we’re the community’s college. Given what’s going on in this country, this is just one step saying that equity and inclusion are important to us. So this is how we show it. We say it and then we do it. If we’re truly the community’s college, then we should be responsive to the community’s needs.” To learn more about this partnership visit GRCC’s Adult Education or Kent ISD . This story was reported by Anjula Caldwell.