When you think Michigan, you usually think of car manufacturing. Recently though, a new industry has been gaining slowly – the defense industry.
Several two-year colleges in auto-manufacturing areas received $5 million to train workers for jobs in the growing defense and homeland security industries allocated from federal stimulus funds. The training will prepare participants with the necessary leadership and business skills required for further training in advanced, defense-oriented engineering and information technology.
As part of the training process, area colleges are developing a relationship with the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Acquisition University to allow students to continue their training there. Under the terms of the three-year grant, the college will target veterans and displaced workers to receive training.
According to a state estimate, about 65 percent of defense jobs in Michigan are in Macomb County. In Sterling Heights, General Dynamics conducts research, design, engineering and prototyping of the next generation of land assault vehicles and weapons technology. A few miles away, in Warren, is the U.S. Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM), is responsible for the purchase, support and contracting of 70 percent of the Army’s ground combat, tactical vehicles and supporting services including small arms, components and munitions. In addition, the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) is located nearby, a federal laboratory for advanced military automotive technology. Their mission is to develop and maintain vehicles for all U.S. Armed Forces, many federal agencies and over 60 foreign countries. The Army’s National Automotive Center (NAC), located at TARDEC, serves as the link to academia, industry and the various government agencies in all aspects of automotive technology.
The Army’s TACOM and TARDEC operations are expanding, as are several large and small defense contractors. The expansions, along with natural attrition, are expected to create 6,000 to 7,000 openings in the defense sector in southeast Michigan between 2009 and 2012. Read more.
