Trine University announced today it plans to put more than $8.5 million in equipment and funding into helping retain jobs in the area's metal, plastics and packaging industries.
The Angola university has acquired $3.5 million in lab equipment over the last year and secured another $5 million to fund a “Materials Science Center of Excellence” focused on training people in foundry, plastics and packaging technologies, it announced in a statement.
The center will allow Trine to better assist companies such as Metal Technologies Inc. and Rieke Packaging Systems, both in Auburn, by training and keeping local talent in the region, the university said.
Trine President Earl D. Brooks II said in the statement Trine is pursuing the initiative to “retain some of the best and brightest talent here in the region versus exporting it outside the region, the state or to other parts of the country.”
School officials also hope the city of Angola will pledge $2 million in Major Moves funding toward the project, the statement said. Angola Mayor Richard Hickman said he will ask the city council to approve the funding at its meeting Monday, the statement said.
