News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Motlow State College in McMinnville has become a Certified Training Center, offering Mitsubishi Electric classes to meet industry needs.
Automation and Robotics Training Center Executive Director Larry Flatt said there are two parts to this partnership. The first focuses on academics, with students participating in Mechatronics programs to understand Program Logic Controllers. Flatt said the broader goal is to offer industry workers the opportunity to become PLC certified, enabling them to control machinery and provide automation for various systems.
“You come in on Monday, you’ve not programmed a Mitsubishi PLC, and when you go to work the next Monday back at your factory, you are at least knowledgeable enough to do some basic programming,” Flatt said. “So there’s the academic side and there’s the industry certification side.”
Flatt said they are now the first non-corporate training facility for Mitsubishi Electric in the United States. He said the program has been under development for the last eighteen months and classes are only four days long. Flatt said he is proud, calling this partnership a milestone for Motlow, McMinnville, and Mitsubishi.
“The hopes and the aim is to continue to grow,” Flatt said. “So that we can have more and more classes and more and more people coming to McMinnville to get certified.”
Flatt said there are no prerequisites for the program. He said if you have a job that wants to grow your skills, the class will help you reach the intermediate level. Flatt also said he plans to offer advanced classes down the line.
“You come here, you get personal attention,” Flatt said. “You have a small class size, and so your ability to learn, your ability to have a hands-on relationship with the equipment and a direct relationship with the instructor may be a little easier than if you’re going to a corporate facility.”
Flatt said there is an economic benefit to the partnership. Flatt said this opportunity will draw in people from all over. Flatt said many consider McMinnville to be a halfway point between Alabama and Ohio.
“The other thing for the community that good is they stay in our hotels, eat our food, and visit our community while they are here,” Flatt said. So we have an economic impact as well as a certification impact.”
