Three area community colleges are paving the way in the future of industry.

On Monday, Vice President Joe Biden, U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced that Lehigh Carbon Community College, Luzerne County Community College and Northampton Community College will share a four-year $10 million Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training Initiative grant to develop new programs in high-priority career fields.The national initiative, which doled out $450 million to 270 community colleges across the country during this round of grants, aims to help community colleges build stronger relationships with employers to help graduates with skills needed in the workforce.The three schools were the only Pennsylvania recipients named in this round of grants.According to a news release, Lehigh Carbon Community College will receive $1,809,350; Luzerne County Community College will receive $1,836,214; and Northampton Community College will receive $6,354,436 to work with employers to develop affordable degree, certificate and diploma programs in three industry sectors advanced manufacturing, health care and logistics/transportation. Northampton Community College was the lead applicant for the three schools.The occupations specifically being targeted will be health care office specialist, health care office coordinator, pharmacy technician specialist, health care billing and coding specialist, machinery repair, instrumentation technician, advanced manufacturing/integrated systems technology specialists, welding and diesel engine specialist."We are excited to partner with Lehigh Carbon Community College, Luzerne County Community College, and a host of northeast Pennsylvania companies to develop job training in high priority fields like health care, advanced manufacturing, and transportation and logistics," Dr. Mark H. Erickson, president of Northampton Community College, said."This grant will help us both provide great jobs and serve the workforce needs of Northeast Pennsylvania.The development of these new programs is expected to take up to 18 months to complete and once completed, will help prepare low-wage workers for middle-class jobs in an effort to grow the local and state economies."These funds will provide much-needed training and education to the workforce in northeastern Pennsylvania," said Elizabeth Bolden, president and CEO of Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges."Our community colleges are nimble and responsive to the needs of their local economy, and this grant is a natural extension of the work our colleges, with strong records of success and cost-effective operations, undertake in their communities every day."Employers partnering: Airgas, B. Braun Medical Inc., Blue Mountain Health System, 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.Public workforce partners are the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry and their JobGateway and Pennsylvania CareerCoach programs, the Business Services Teams at the local CareerLinks, and the Lackawanna, Lehigh Valley, Luzerne/ Schuylkill, Northern Tier, and Pocono CountiesWorkforce Investment Boards.