business backgrounder | education & workforce
Partnerships Payoff
South Seattle College’s partnership with employers has
created a niche program to match the right workers with
the right training for high-demand diesel mechanic careers.
Kim Eckart
Machinery that is built, must also be maintained and repaired. That’s the concept behind South Seattle College’s
successful Diesel Industrial Sector Cohort program, a program that’s training the next wave of diesel mechanics.
As part of the program’s employer partnerships, some students can offset the cost of the seven-quarter associate’s
degree with employer sponsorships and state and federal grants, making it
attractive, affordable and practical for today’s hands-on job seekers.
In a garage in West Seattle, the next generation of diesel mechanics is honing a craft.
There, 15 men are scattered around diesel engines, under semi-trucks and over carts of
tools, learning skills for a trade that’s in demand but losing workers to retirement. These
mechanics-in-training have signed on to a program that can give them a leg up in the
marketplace — and employers a promising hiring pool.
Enrolled in South Seattle College’s new Diesel Industrial Sector Cohort, these students
are pursuing an associate’s degree in diesel technology — and a direct path to a job.
“We’re looking for people
who have a passion for the
business and are willing to
invest the time.”
—Larry Phillips, recruiting manager,
Papé Machine