Heartland unveils new electric vehicle training facility

Posted on October 21, 2021
The program offers certificates and degrees in electric vehicle energy storage (EVES). Gov. JB Pritzker, state officials, and other local leaders got to tour the facility Thursday. (Facebook/Governor JB Pritzker)

By WJBC Staff

BLOOMINGTON – Heartland Community College is showing off its new facility that will train students to work in the electric vehicle industry.

The program offers certificates and degrees in electric vehicle energy storage (EVES). Gov. JB Pritzker, state officials, and other local leaders got to tour the facility Thursday.

“This first of a kind program provides cutting edge training to develop new talent for the higher paying jobs of the future, and to enhance retention of manufacturers in the central part of the state, as well as our downstate communities,” said Heartland President Keith Cornille.

The first class of students is underway, learning in a facility with electric vehicles and specialized equipment donated by Rivian.

“It’s one of the reasons that in 2021 alone dozens of manufacturers like Rivian have either relocated to Illinois or expanded here,” said the governor.

The EVES Training Center is located at 1103 Martin Luther King Drive in Bloomington. There are plans for a new, larger space on the Heartland campus funded in part by a Rebuild Illinois capital grant.

WJBC News can be reached at [email protected]

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…