With Ellucian Grants Services (EGS) at its side, Mt. Hood Community College (MHCC) led a statewide consortium to unlock $5 million for modern, employer-aligned workforce pathways. In 2021, the college was awarded a prestigious “Strengthening Community Colleges Training” grant from the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employment and Training Administration. As one of only 11 elite grantees in the inaugural round, MHCC led a statewide initiative to modernize workforce training in Advanced Manufacturing and Cybersecurity. The Oregon Consortium, comprised of partners across the workforce ecosystem, including nine community colleges, five workforce boards, and 15 employers, tackled systemic challenges. They aimed to invest in hybrid delivery infrastructure, align policies across institutions, and create stackable credentials and digital badges that reflect real-world skill needs.
The Challenge: Fragmented Systems and Limited Infrastructure
Oregon’s community colleges struggled with fragmented systems and limited infrastructure to deliver accelerated, industry-aligned training in Advanced Manufacturing and Cybersecurity — two sectors critical to the state’s economic future. MHCC and its consortium partners identified key barriers: lack of hybrid delivery capabilities, inconsistent credentialing processes, limited employer engagement, and misaligned policies across institutions — all hindering students’ ability to gain relevant skills quickly and equitably.
Strategic Coordination and Grant Writing: The Process Behind MHCC’s $5 Million Success
The strategic coordination and grant writing process behind MHCC’s $5 million success was driven by the thought leadership and expert grant development skills of EGS, whose long-standing partnership with MHCC provided a foundation of trust and deep institutional knowledge. EGS played a critical role in guiding the consortium of nine community colleges through complex collaboration, helping to align diverse institutional policies and resources into a cohesive, forward-thinking proposal. EGS expertise ensured the grant proposal was highly competitive by integrating data-driven strategies, aligning with federal priorities, and showcasing innovative solutions. This combination of MHCC’s leadership and EGS’s seasoned grant development capabilities resulted in securing transformative funding and establishing a scalable model for workforce modernization across Oregon’s education and workforce development landscape.
The Solution: A Coordinated Consortium Strategy
MHCC led the Oregon Consortium, a dynamic and expansive network of 29 state and regional education and workforce development partners to implement a comprehensive approach, illustrated in the accompanying graphic excerpt from the proposal. The consortium focused on:
- Investing in hybrid delivery infrastructure to expand access
- Developing stackable credentials and digital badges reflecting real-world skills
- Aligning institutional policies around credit transfer, prior learning, and Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) eligibility
- Engaging more than 80 strategic employer partners statewide to ensure training met labor market needs.
EGS served not only as the principal architect of the grant proposal but also as a strategic partner, delivering high-level guidance, evaluation oversight, and comprehensive compliance support. This integrated approach ensured fidelity to program goals, regulatory alignment, and the achievement of demonstrable, data-driven outcomes.
This grant allowed us to reimagine workforce training in Oregon - building pathways that are faster, smarter, and more equitable."
Measurable Impact: Building Faster, Smarter, More Equitable Pathways
Conclusion: A Scalable Model for Workforce Transformation
MHCC’s leadership, combined with the Ellucian Grants Services experts, helped build a scalable model for workforce transformation — one that other states now look to replicate. This success story demonstrates how targeted federal funding, when paired with strategic planning and expert support, can catalyze lasting change.
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