Illinois Governor JB Pritzker recently announced the grand opening of TCCI Manufacturing’s Clean Energy Innovation Hub in Decatur, Illinois. TCCI is partnering with Richland Community College, NIU and other universities to launch the Clean Energy Workforce Academy, which will provide educational and workforce opportunities in the electric vehicle (EV) and clean energy sectors, while strengthening career pathways through a co-developed curriculum and cultivating a highly skilled workforce.
NIU is collaborating with Richland Community College to implement an online pathway for students in technology and manufacturing applied science programs to complete their bachelor’s degree virtually, saving students time and money while directly connecting them to industry.
NIU President Lisa Freeman
“This isn’t your traditional four-year degree. Our curriculum empowers students while advancing TCCI’s mission and fueling the region’s continued growth and innovation,” NIU President Lisa Freeman said. “Students learn at TCCI, Richland and online with NIU – all while having direct access to internships, mentors and jobs at cutting-edge companies. For working adults or first-generation students, this flexibility can be life changing.”
The NIU Department of Engineering Technology’s 3+1 Applied Manufacturing Technology (AMT) program offers TCCI and other leading companies the opportunity to retool the skill set of their technicians by providing a pathway to a bachelor’s degree that begins at the local community college. The AMT program is a completion program that empowers local communities by meeting students where they are.
Unlike other completion programs, AMT allows students with associate degrees in a technology related field from across the United States to transfer up to 90 hours completed at their local community colleges and complete an additional 30 upper-level (online) credits at NIU. This improves communities’ technical capacity and talent to maintain their competitiveness in the manufacturing field by directly serving place-bound professionals.
The new, $45 million state-of-the-art facility in Decatur increases domestic EV component manufacturing, while providing training and research opportunities. TCCI created 50 new jobs as part of the project, by investing more than $20 million to revamp their Decatur facility.
“Our opening marks a pivotal step forward in Illinois’ clean energy leadership and reflects the power of collaboration in building a more sustainable and inclusive economy,” TCCI president Richard Demirjian said in a news release. “We’re proud to be onshoring critical thermal management technology development to the United States, while supporting workforce development, and building a global hub for research and innovation.”
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency added a $650,000 matching grant to support the expansion of TCCI’s Climatic Center for Innovation and Research which will serve as one of the nation’s most advanced facilities for testing and validating natural refrigerant technologies and sustainable thermal management systems when it opens in 2026.
