THE PFLUGERVILLE MANUFACTURING ACADEMY WINS GOLDEN SHOVEL AWARD FOR BEST LOCAL PROGRAM

PFLUGERVILLE, Texas (June 2, 2021) —  The Golden Shovel Agency (GSA), a national firm specializing in marketing and communications, announced the Pflugerville Community Development Corporation (PCDC) was awarded the Best Local Program during International Economic Development Week last month, recognizing their efforts to develop the Pflugerville Manufacturing Academy and a 3D Training Course in partnership with state and local workforce education providers in spite of the pandemic.  This is the first year for the GSA to present the awards that recognize organizations nationwide that attain a high level of professionalism in various award categories. 

"Golden Shovel Agency is pleased to recognize Pflugerville Community Development Corporation for their creation of the Pflugerville Manufacturing Academy. The team at PCDC recognized that Additive Manufacturing would become a force in the community and took proactive steps to ensure that a trained workforce would be ready to support this growth,”  said Bethany Quinne,  Vice President of Strategy and Content Development at the Golden Shovel Agency.

“They overcame the barrier of not having a community and technical college in Pflugerville and brought partners to the table anyway. They don't take no for an answer and Pflugerville's industry will benefit as a result," said Quinn.

The Pflugerville Manufacturing Academy launched its first class in February 2021, a 3D Training Course that provides an overview of additive manufacturing and training on state-of-the-art equipment owned by local Pflugerville manufacturing companies. Students spend 20 hours in a virtual classroom and 20 hours in a local additive manufacturing facility and are introduced to the additive manufacturing industry, learn setup, operation, and equipment maintenance. All onsite training is rotated between the participating additive manufacturers Cumberland Additive Inc., EOS of North America, and Essentium.

The need for the academy programming surfaced during weekly virtual discussions with local additive manufacturers during the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Spring of 2020.  These discussions were hosted by the PCDC to learn how to best support their need for a trained workforce. 

“We didn’t have bricks and mortar or a community college to house the program, but we did have our businesses and workforce partners to count on in Pflugerville,” said Amy Madison, PCDC Executive Director. “They were essential, open for business and the businesses were willing to lease space for this program on state-of-the-art equipment made in Pflugerville.  It doesn’t get much better than that.”

In March, the PCDC announced the graduation of their inaugural class of five students who successfully completed 40-hours of training on March 3, 2021. Curriculum and training for the course are provided by Austin Community College (ACC) in partnership with the PCDC, Workforce Solutions Capital Area Board, Texas Workforce Commission and the local Pflugerville additive manufacturing companies.

For more information about the Pflugerville Manufacturing Academy and future classes, visit www.pfdevelopment.com/3DAcademy.

View the PDF version of the release HERE.