KCKCC Receives Ratcliffe Foundation Grant for the Skilled Trades

Kansas City Kansas Community College received $30,000 from the Ratcliffe Foundation at the 2025 National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE) Conference last week in Coronado, Calif. The funding will be used to support the college’s new Automation Engineer Technology (AET) lab in the KCK Community Education, Health and Wellness Center scheduled to open next fall.

“KCKCC’s efforts are now being recognized nationally by organizations like the NACCE and the Ratcliffe Foundation,” said Dr. Scott Balog, executive vice president at KCKCC. “We’re grateful for the generous support of the Ratcliffe Foundation and NACCE and their recognition of KCKCC’s leadership in addressing key workforce needs in the Kansas City metro.”

KCKCC received the funding through NACCE’s Pitch for Skilled Trade competition. KCKCC was among just five colleges nationally selected to pitch for funding from the Ratcliffe Foundation. The college’s pitch centered on capacity building in its AET program, and the funds received will be used as part of a targeted capital campaign to support equipment needs at the AET lab. The college’s initial ask was $25,000, but the Ratcliffe Foundation increased it’s funding toward the project by another $5,000. KCKCC is the first institution in the state of Kansas to be awarded a Ratcliffe Foundation Pitch for the Skilled Trades grant.

“KCKCC’s Automation Engineer Technology lab aligns perfectly with the interests of the Ratcliffe Foundation,” said Carlene Cassidy, Chief Executive Officer of the Ratcliffe Foundation. “Our grant – larger than what the college requested – reflects our belief that KCKCC, like our other awardees, represents the best of what community colleges mean to the communities they serve.”

Pitch for the Skilled Trades is a competition opportunity for faculty, staff, administrators, foundation leaders and presidents from NACCE member colleges to pitch to a panel of judges for funding. Competitive projects are those that demonstrate “greatest” economic impact on a local level with respect to jobs created, employment obtained, income earned and businesses launched. In addition, projects must show that there is a return on investment. The primary goal of the competition is to expand opportunities in the skilled trades and apprenticeships through innovative educational programs and to provide a path to employment or a new venture being created.

“Funding will help provide much needed equipment as we double our capacity and output in the number of skilled maintenance technicians and AET technicians prepared for high-skill, high-wage advanced manufacturing jobs in the metro,” Balog said. “By giving us more funding than what we asked for in our application, the grant signals the Ratcliffe Foundation’s belief in us and our work to transform the economic landscape in Wyandotte County.”