Faculty and administrators from Miles Community College were invited to a recent roundtable discussion and luncheon with Congressman Greg Gianforte (R-Mont.), held at the Miles City Livestock Commission last week. Representatives from MCC, including President Ron Slinger and Agriculture Instructor Kim Gibbs, were in attendance to promote the recent development of the new Meat Processing Program at the College.
Other area community guests were staff members from the local Bureau of Land Management office, local county commissioner Jason Strouf, and local business owner Bart Meged. Gianforte was briefed by the attendees on local Miles City area happenings, including the impact of COVID-19, cattle market and beef prices, and the importance of valuing our small colleges and businesses.
MCC was recently the recipient of a $117,000 Montana Meat Processing Infrastructure Grant to help aid in the development and funding of the certificate degree in meat processing that will be offered as early as this fall. Gianforte expressed interest in the program during the luncheon and was excited to hear that MCC was able to quickly kickoff the program with the help of Montana Farm Bureau, the Montana Meat Processors Association, and the award of the MMPIG.
"It's been great to see such high interest in this new program," says Kim Gibbs, after the luncheon. "Congressman Gianforte asked a lot of great questions and seemed to eager to learn more about it."
Both President Slinger and Instructor Gibbs were able to answer questions and listen to comments not only from the Congressman, but from the other luncheon attendees as well.
"We got some great feedback from the roundtable discussion," commented President Slinger. "Folks really seem to be excited about this program."
In addition to the discussion, Congressman Gianforte informed MCC that the new Meat Processing Program would be eligible for the Gianforte Trade Scholarships, which are available to Montana residents seeking a degree in trade programs at colleges throughout the state. Other degrees offered at MCC that qualify for the Gianforte Trade Scholarships include Heavy Equipment Operations, Networking & PC Maintenance, and Networking Technician.
"It was great to see the new program get added to the list of trades for those scholarships," says Gibbs. "It will be an awesome resource for those students looking for financial assistance and will hopefully round up even more interest in the program."
For more information about the Meat Processing Program or other trade programs available at MCC, visit www.milescc.edu or contact Ag Instructor Kim Gibbs at 406-874-6227.
