Nashoba Tech Receives $500k Grant to Expand Manufacturing Career Programming

WESTFORD, MA - Nashoba Valley Technical High School has received its largest ever competitive grant recently during a ceremony at the statehouse.

The $500,000 grant was awarded by the Massachusetts Workforce Skills Capital Grant Program and will support Nashboa Valley's efforts to expand its Advanced Manufacturing career programming and to provide additional training for veterans and those who are chronically unemployed.

Former Superintendent Judith Klimkiewicz, who retired as of Feb. 26, after nearly 20 years leading the school, called the grant her “goodbye gift” to the district.

Klimkiewicz said Nashoba Tech has wanted to update its Machine Tool Technology program with new equipment so it can expand to become more involved in providing job skills for adults in the district, particularly those who are unemployed and veterans returning from active duty.

“There is no other way we’d be able to update Machine Tool Technology to meet the needs of advanced manufacturing without a grant of this magnitude,” Klimkiewicz said. “There are jobs that are going unfilled that need skilled technicians in manufacturing, and we can train people to fill those jobs.”

She went on to explain that expanding Machine Tool Technology to include advanced manufacturing is part of Nashoba Tech’s goal to be more of a community-oriented school that educates everyone in the district, not
just high-school students.