Forget Silicon Valley. Ohio’s leaders want the Buckeye State to become the “Silicon Heartland.”
Tech giant Intel’s plans to build two microchip factories – places that would create the tiny pieces of technology powering everything from phones to cars – anchor those plans. Leaders say it’s vital to ramp up production in America because much of this type of manufacturing takes place outside the United States, in such places as Taiwan and South Korea.
But one of the biggest keys to the success of the projects under way near Columbus lies two hours north. That’s where Lorain County Community College continues to quietly be a national leader in this type of technology.
President Marcia Ballinger recognizes many people would be surprised to hear that. It’s not, she admits, the “typical space for a community college to be in.”
Yet LCCC isn’t new to this. They started talking to Northeast Ohio employers about this work more than a decade ago. Now, they have a slate of related certificate and degree programs, including a four-year bachelor’s degree.
“It’s changing our world and all of the processes that we use,” she said of the technology.
It’s also changing the stereotype of what manufacturing jobs look like. These positions often involve working in sleek, clean labs. Entry-level semiconductor processing technicians earn a national median salary of nearly $50,000. The field is forecasted to grow over the next decade.
Signal Ohio spoke with Ballinger, who’s led the college since 2016, in January to discuss what the new Trump administration might mean for this work as well as how the college is partnering with businesses and other higher education institutions to boost Ohio’s workforce.
The Intel of it all
It’s been a long road for Intel in Ohio. After its groundbreaking three years ago, the project encountered lots of delays. Now, the opening is not slated until 2030.
The stops-and-starts of Intel’s development “haven’t impacted us whatsoever,” Ballinger said. That’s because the college is on the talent development side. It can take from months to years for a student to complete a program or certificate.
She called Intel a “terrific partner.” They hired several of the college’s students for an internship in Arizona to learn what it would be like to work in a systems foundry, the same kind of development the company is building outside of Columbus.
Still, though, the college president is not naive. Many of the college’s graduates, she acknowledges, “are not going to go to Licking County.” Intel expects to employ about 3,000 people in its factories there.
Other existing businesses could eventually contribute to Intel’s production. Plus, many of them are already doing their own work on this front. Ballinger stressed that advanced manufacturing needs span every industry of every size.
She can rattle off a list of Northeast Ohio employers who turn to them for graduates. It includes Lincoln Electric, Rockwell Automation, and Nordson Corp.
“Intel will be two hours away, but the microelectronics [and] the semiconductor supply chain, it’s here,” she said.
Doubling down on a niche area could attract more students to campus, too. Like many of its two-year public peers, LCCC has struggled in this area after the COVID-19 pandemic. It enrolled about 9,440 students last fall. About 40% of that group are high school students taking classes through the state’s College Credit Plus program.
Lorain County Community College powered by partnerships
The college trains students at the technician level, focusing on hands-on work.
Its first associate’s degree program in Micro-Electromechanical Systems began in 2013, work centering on devices such as sensors that can be as tiny as a grain of salt.
College leaders collaborated with local companies to develop the curriculum. It includes classes ranging from soldering pieces on a circuit board to using computer programs to record data.
That’s different from a place like Case Western Reserve University. Northeast Ohio’s only private research university is educating students about this technology, too, though some of that work is more research-based.
After Intel’s announcement, though, the two colleges came together, signaling that combining their related resources could be a selling point for the region’s employers.
There are other partnerships on this front, too. LCCC is part of a midwest consortium that includes big-name players such as the University of Notre Dame. Ballinger herself just got appointed to a national board.
“We can’t do everything alone,” she said. “Collaborating and partnering are critically, critically important.”
Lorain County Community College’s future amid CHIPS Act
Intel’s plant in Ohio got approved to get a reported $1.5 billion slice of funding from the CHIPS Act in November 2024, two years after former President Joe Biden signed that initiative into law.
It’s unclear what President Donald Trump’s commitment to Intel and chip development in Ohio will look like. As a candidate, he called the deal “so bad.” His administration also has made moves in recent weeks that could impact how federal money is distributed for technology research.
Intel’s co-interim CEO, executive vice president, and CFO, though, said he “feels really good” about working together with the administration, according to Tech Crunch. The company has already received a reported $2.2 billion in federal grants through the CHIPS Act.
In Ohio, Lorain County’s Ballinger doesn’t seem overly concerned when asked in January about what a change in administration could mean for her college.
“Our focus here is on ensuring that we have the right curriculum for the right jobs,” she said. “It’s all about economic development. We’ll navigate through what we need to navigate through to ensure that we’re able to deliver – as we have for 60 years.”
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