Northern Colorado needs trained workers. And now, if you want to work as an automotive technician, manufacturing production technician, power plant operator, or welder across a wide spectrum of industries, you can get trained for an excellent job with great pay at the newest training facility in Colorado.
A different ribbon cutting
Little Bear Peak opened in 2015 to house Front Range Community College’s Automotive Technology and Welding Technology programs. Welding student Rachel Chapman had the honor of ceremoniously opening the building, but it wasn’t your usual ribbon cutting. Rachel used a welding torch to cut a ribbon welding students had fabricated.
What’s inside Little Bear Peak?
Seven classrooms and five lab areas where you can really learn and practice your new skills.
- Automotive Technology has dedicated labs for engine and transmission training. There are 14 service bays with in-ground lifts and state-of-the-art equipment like computerized alignment racks.
- Manufacturing and Energy Technology’s lab, with simulators to train students to operate complex industrial and energy equipment, adjoins its classroom.
- Steps outside of the building is a solar array station for Manufacturing and Energy Technology.
- Welding Technology has 43 welding booths. The booths are big enough to allow two students to work with a faculty member in a booth.
- Welding now has a dedicated fabrication space, and one of the classrooms has a Virtual Welder.
The faculty worked closely with its industry advisors and the architectural and construction teams to develop a modern, efficient training facility. See the image gallery.
Training aligns with industry
Collaboration with industry advisors means the training you receive aligns with the skills employers want. Not just the hard skills either. Our technical programs are set up to give you the soft skills like teamwork and communication in a work environment.
Industry knows their futures depend on new, skilled workers to replace workers who are close to retiring, and they are investing in the programs in Little Bear Peak because that’s where they will find their future workforce.
Markley Motors Automotive Technology Laboratory
Markley Motors in Fort Collins has made a $100,000 commitment to the Automotive Technology Program. In gratitude, we are naming the auto lab the Markley Motors Automotive Technology Laboratory.
Forney Industries supports Welding Technology
Forney Industries, a nationwide leader in the distribution of metal-working and welding products, established a $100,000 scholarship endowment for Welding Technology students. In addition, for or more than a decade, Forney has supplied the Welding Technology Program and its students with high-end welding equipment and the gloves, helmets, coats, and other supplies students need.
Great partners help great programs succeed
As Dr. Nancy McCallin, president of the Colorado Community College System, said, “Great programs need great partners to succeed.”
Community colleges, she said, educate students for careers in high demand. The payoff for industry is great workers, and students benefit, too. A student who earns an Associate of Applied Science degree – the technical degree in community colleges – sees his or her quality of life improve by 55 percent, she said.
The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment says the average salary for an automotive service technician in 2013 was $41,361; manufacturing production technician, $67,412; power plant operator, $69,839; and welder, $41,876. You can get an excellent job with great pay, and learning skills in Little Bear Peak can help you get there.
