Lehigh Carbon Community College, Northampton Community College and Luzerne County Community College will receive a four-year $10-million federal grant to develop new degree, certificate and diploma programs in high priority career fields.

The announcement was made Sept. 29 by Vice President Joe Biden, U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

The funding is part of the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training competitive grant program which is co-administered by the two departments.

The programs are intended to help to prepare low-wage workers for middle-class jobs and to grow the economy.

Lehigh Carbon Community College will receive $1,809,350; Northampton Community College, $6,354,436, and Luzerne County Community College, $1,836,214; to work with employers to develop affordable degree, certificate and diploma programs in three industry sectors: advanced manufacturing, healthcare, and logistics-transportation.

The occupations targeted include healthcare office specialist, healthcare office coordinator, pharmacy technician specialist, healthcare billing and coding specialist, machinery repair, instrumentation technician, advanced manufacturing/integrated systems technology specialists, welding and diesel engine specialist.

Employer partners include Airgas, B. Braun Medical Inc., Blue Mountain Health Systems, Fisher Clinical Services, Fresh Pet Kitchens, Just Born Inc., K-Fab Inc., Lehigh Valley Health Network, Linde Corporation, Machining Technologies, Mack Trucks, Martz Group, Medico Industries, Ocean Spray, Pocono Medical Center, St. Luke's Hospital Miner's Campus, St. Luke's Physician Group, Victaulic, and Waste Management.

Some of the programs will be offered at all three colleges while others may be specific to one of the colleges. Program development is expected to take 12 to 18 months. Students who enroll will have the benefit of remediation for those who need it and technology-enhanced learning proven to be effective in occupational training. Some students may also qualify for credit for prior learning.

Public workforce system partners include the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry and its JobGateway and CareerCoach programs; the Business Services Teams at local CareerLinks, and the Lackawanna, Lehigh Valley, Luzerne-Schuylkill, Northern Tier, and Pocono Counties Workforce Investment Boards.