MILWAUKEE, July 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Johnson
Controls (NYSE: JCI), the global leader for smart, healthy and
sustainable buildings, today launched the Johnson Controls
Community College Partnership Program. As part of the program,
Johnson Controls will give $15
million over the next five years to support academic
programs at nonprofit community colleges. Starting in the 2021‒2022
academic year, the program will endow a total of $1 million to ten community colleges across the
U.S. In addition to the funding, Johnson Controls employees will
support the community colleges through volunteering and
mentorships.
The grants support the expansion of associate degree and
certificate programs in heating, ventilation and air conditioning
(HVAC), fire and security and digital building automation systems,
all areas where the U.S. Bureau of Labor is predicting an increased
need for skilled trades expertise in the coming years. A core
objective of the program is to change the trajectory of the lives
of students from underserved communities by equipping them with
in-demand knowledge and skills that will support employment and a
pathway for life-long careers upon graduation.
"Just as smart, healthy buildings are critical to our
well-being, well-educated and trained technicians are crucial to
keeping our environments operating safely and efficiently. As a
leader in the building industry for over a century, Johnson
Controls is honored to share our expertise with the country's
leading community colleges," said Grady
Crosby, vice president of Public Affairs and Chief Diversity
Officer at Johnson Controls. "The Community College Partnership
Program supports institutions through its funding and supports
their students through volunteerism and mentorships. We believe
this will empower people to build life-long careers that will
transform their lives and their cities."
The initial ten community colleges receiving grants are located
in cities where Johnson Controls has significant customer base
and employee presence. Funding for each community college differs
based on its needs; in general, colleges will use the support to
purchase and develop classroom materials, learning technologies and
student scholarships. Local Johnson Controls employees in each
market will serve as volunteer educators, providing students with
counseling and real-world experiences. This mentoring will be
directly incorporated into various college programs and also
provide a pathway for student internships and entry-level
employment opportunities at Johnson Controls.
2021-2022 Community College Partnership Award
Recipients:
- Kennedy-King College
(Chicago, IL): Founded in
1911, Kennedy-King College is part of
the City Colleges of Chicago, a
system of two-year education institutions. The college will use its
funding to establish an HVAC certification bootcamp, develop a job
shadowing and field experience course as well as provide students
with their own HVAC toolsets.
- Suffolk County Community College
(Selden, NY): Founded in 1959, Suffolk County Community College is a public
community college, sponsored by SUNY
and Suffolk County, NY. The
college will use its funding to invest in state-of-the-art training
simulators and growth of a guided mentoring program featuring
Johnson Controls employees supporting peer mentoring and career
counseling.
- Montgomery College (Rockville,
MD): Founded in 1946, Montgomery
College is a public community college in Montgomery County, Maryland. The college will
use its funding to expand program marketing to local, low-income
communities, hire additional faculty to serve as retention and
recruitment associates and create a Building Automation Systems
lab.
- Community College of Baltimore
County (Baltimore, MD):
Founded in 1957, Community College of
Baltimore County is a public community college with campuses
across Baltimore County, Maryland.
The college will use its funding to hire additional faculty and
grow a guided mentoring program featuring Johnson Controls
employees supporting peer mentoring and career counseling.
- Lone Star College
(Conroe, TX): Founded in 1992,
Lone Star College is a Texas community college in The Woodlands, north of Houston. The college will use its funding to
provide financial assistance for students to obtain HVAC toolkits,
PPE and learning materials, as well as tuition support. Further,
the college will use funding to grow programs that encourage
students to go beyond HVAC/R certification courses and complete a
full Associates Degree.
- Henry Ford College
(Dearborn, MI): Founded in
1938, Henry Ford College is a public
two-year college in Dearborn, west
of Detroit. The college will use
its funding to expand the Energy Technology-HVAC program into
modular units that will also be developed into open-source, online
educational resources that can be shared and further developed by
other learning institutions. Further, the college will purchase
HVAC simulators featuring industry standard components.
- Essex Country Community College (Newark, NJ): Founded in 1968, Essex County College is a public community college
in Essex County, New Jersey. The
college will use its funding to purchase learning materials and
training technologies as well as create a partnership with CompTIA
to expand IT certification programs for careers in IT and help desk
positions.
- Camden County College
(Blackwood, NJ): Founded in
1965, Camden County College is a public
community college serving western central New Jersey and the greater Camden area. The college will use its funding
to expand its HVAC technician training and Programmable Logic
Controller Certificate of Achievement programs. Further, the
college will develop a Programmable Logic Controller certificate
program specifically tied to using Johnson Controls
technology.
- Georgia Piedmont Technical
College (Clarkston,
GA): Founded in 1961, Georgia Piedmont Technical College is part of the Technical
College System of Georgia, serving
students in the greater metro Atlanta area. The college will use its funding
to purchase additional lab equipment for the Building Automaton
Systems program and upgrade hands-on training simulators. Further,
the college will refresh its commercial refrigeration and welding
programs and update related program marketing to underserved
communities.
- Milwaukee Area Technical College
(Milwaukee, WI): Founded in
1912, Milwaukee Area Technical College
is a public, two-year vocational-technical college. The college
will use its funding to expand local recruitment for HVAC career
training as well as upgrade lab and training equipment.
According to a 2020 report from the Global Alliance for
Buildings and Construction, part of the United Nations environment
program, the buildings construction industry accounts for 40% of
total global energy-related carbon emissions. And three quarters of
those emissions are attributable to building operations. Yet the
current renovation rate of buildings is less than one percent. It
will take commitment and expertise across generations to reverse
the damage already done to our environment and then continue with a
new, sustainable way of life. Specialty knowledge is needed to
develop more sustainable spaces and deploy and maintain operational
and informational technologies that drive healthier buildings.
Therefore, Johnson Controls is investing in the technicians of
tomorrow, today.
To learn more about Johnson Controls strategic approach to
philanthropy and volunteerism, please visit
https://www.johnsoncontrols.com/corporate-sustainability/community.
INVESTOR
CONTACTS:
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MEDIA
CONTACTS:
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Antonella
Franzen
|
Kellie
Harris
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Direct:
609.720.4665
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Direct:
773.294.4753
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Email: antonella.franzen@jci.com
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Email:
kellie.harris@jci.com
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Ryan
Edelman
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Ryan Nolan
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Direct:
609.720.4545
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Direct:
414.524.6170
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Email: ryan.edelman@jci.com
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Email:
ryan.p.nolan@jci.com
|
About Johnson Controls:
At Johnson Controls (NYSE:JCI), we transform the environments
where people live, work, learn and play. As the global leader in
smart, healthy and sustainable buildings, our mission is to
reimagine the performance of buildings to serve people, places and
the planet.
With a history of more than 135 years of innovation, Johnson
Controls delivers the blueprint of the future for industries such
as healthcare, schools, data centers, airports, stadiums,
manufacturing and beyond through its comprehensive digital
offering, OpenBlue. With a global team of 100,000 experts in more
than 150 countries, Johnson Controls offers the world's
largest portfolio of building technology, software as well
as service solutions with some of the most
trusted names in the industry. For more information,
visit www.johnsoncontrols.com or follow us
@johnsoncontrols on Twitter.
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SOURCE Johnson Controls International plc