First Heavy Equipment Operations Class Graduates from Harford's Leading Edge Training Center Powered by the Ratcliffe Foundation

The spring 2022 Heavy Equipment Operations (HEO) class was the first HEO class to come through Harford’s Leading Edge Training Center Powered by the Ratcliffe Foundation.

The HEO program, a series of four classes meeting twice a week, ran for six months from January 18 through June 30, 2022. The classes included instruction on state-of-the-art heavy equipment simulators and actual trade equipment, classroom instruction and related field trips. The program concluded with a round-robin style interview event that resulted in all the students receiving job offers from local businesses.

"The first class to complete Harford's LETC Heavy Equipment Operations course was a mix of recent high school grads, returning citizens, displaced workers and more. The students were very enthusiastic and dedicated in their certification training, and all but one also took the LETC Forklift Certification Training. I am so proud of this group," said Monique Stiemke, Career Navigator for Workforce Development at the Leading Edge Training Center.

The students will have an opportunity to celebrate their achievements with guests at the inaugural Ceremony of Completion and Celebration for those completing workforce programs at Harford’s Leading Edge Training Center Powered by the Ratcliffe Foundation on August 31.

The next Heavy Equipment Operations program will run September 13, 2022-April 13, 2023.

Harford's Leading Edge Training Center Powered by the Ratcliffe Foundation is located at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Harford & Cecil Counties, Edgewood Center. The programs are coordinated by the Workforce and Community Education Division of Harford Community College.

About Harford’s Leading Edge Training Center Powered by the Ratcliffe Foundation

Harford Community College partners with the Philip E. and Carole R. Ratcliffe Foundation, the Rural Maryland Council, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Harford & Cecil Counties, and the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) to make education and training accessible to residents and businesses in Harford County’s Route 40 corridor.

Harford’s Leading Edge Training Center Powered by the Ratcliffe Foundation empowers residents with knowledge, skills, and abilities to secure careers and earn head-of-household wages, enhancing the quality of life for residents in southeastern Harford County and throughout the region and includes a:

• Fabrication lab for additive manufacturing
• Simulation and lab space for trade skills
• Collaboration room for innovation
• Training space for workforce development
• Maker space, entrepreneurship, and business acceleration programming

Students learn new skills and are eligible to receive scholarships, stipends, and tool allowances. Programs include stackable workforce credentials in:

• Heavy Equipment Operations
• Basic Machine Manufacturing Technology
• Forklift Certification Training
• Warehousing, Supply Chain, and Logistics