Agustin Espino worked as a janitor for a manufacturing company about 15 years ago when his fascination with machinery began. His boss sent him to De Anza College in Cupertino for formal training as a machinist, where he eventually became one of the school’s lab technicians.

De Anza College, along with five other local schools, plans to uplift students similar to Espino with the Silicon Valley Advanced Manufacturing Program. The four-year program is funded by a $5.6 million U.S. Department of Labor grant and will train up to 725 students in sectors ranging from automation to semiconductors, when it launches in April. Its goal is to train Latino, Black and female students — often underrepresented in the manufacturing field — through supportive programs such as English as a second language courses. White employees make up about 69% of the manufacturing workforce nationwide, and about 71% are men, according to 2022 data.

Participating schools include De Anza, Foothill, Ohlone, Evergreen Valley and Mission colleges and San Jose State University. Students can take courses across colleges. Major Bay Area manufacturers are backing the initiative, including Applied Materials, Sanmina Corporation, Infinera Corporation, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, FM Industries, Association of Manufacturers Bay Area, NextFlex and Enablence. The companies could employ students after they’re certified.

Espino said as someone who speaks English as a second language, the program would’ve helped him as a student. He said students of color often face barriers in education others don’t.

“Having the support of somebody who can be there so that you don’t lose focus or patience (is essential) because it’s hard (not speaking English),” he told San José Spotlight.

Students are selected through workforce programs such as San Jose’s work2future and high school dual enrollment programs. Dual enrollment allows students to take community college courses while attending high school. The program will cover some of the cost of books and materials.

The program’s funding is part of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Strengthening Community Colleges Training Grants Program, which awarded $65 million to 18 schools in December. That funding is somewhat uncertain under President Donald Trump’s initiatives to freeze federal grants.

But Teresa Ong, Foothill College associate vice president of workforce and career technical education, is cautiously optimistic. She said the national attitude is to make more products in the U.S. rather than outsourcing to other countries.

“I’m hoping that folks see this area and this place that had long been like a stronghold in manufacturing, that they see it that way again,” she told San José Spotlight.

The effort speaks to the need for manufacturing employees in the Bay Area.

San Jose recently ranked No. 1 for U.S. cities with the highest concentration of manufacturing jobs in its workforce. The city has roughly 77,000 manufacturing jobs accounting for 18% of the overall workforce, according to city data — and employees are paid an average of $79,300 a year.

Matthew Kenny, program manager for Manufacture San Jose, said the manufacturing industry has low barriers to entry and provides job security, as it will never go away entirely.

“It’s a really great pathway to a well-paying career for someone that may have had barriers to traditional four-year degrees or traditional white collar employment,” Kenny told San José Spotlight.

Despite that, industry professionals said a workforce shortage is leading to hundreds of vacancies.

Mike Appio, department chair of De Anza’s design and manufacturing department, said those vacancies make it the perfect time for students to enter the field. His goal for the program is to get students trained and certified as fast as possible so they can land jobs. The time it takes to get certified varies.

“Expand your mind. Come visit. You have to experience it in real life to understand what this is,” Appio told San José Spotlight. “There’s great careers out there.”
Espino said interested students should check the program out, adding there’s nothing like the magic of making something you can hold.

“When you ended up finally making a part (you need), you’ve been working on so passionately, that is what’s so beautiful,” he said.

Contact Annalise Freimarck at [email protected] or follow @annalise_ellen on X.