ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Belmont College has announced it has received two grants from Ohio Mid-Eastern Government Association to be used for the purchase of new training equipment.

OMEGA has been authorized by the Ohio Governor’s Office of Appalachia to disperse funds for the Regional Job Training Program. The purpose of the funding is to support workforce development and direct job training.

The college has received more than $380,000 in grant money from OMEGA and the Regionally Aligned Priorities in Delivering Skills, or RAPIDS, grants. Grants from these areas have provided Belmont with the ability to upgrade the following labs: Building Preservation/Restoration; Civil Engineering Technology; Criminal Justice; HVAC; Industrial Electronics; Medical Assisting; Nursing; and Welding.

Thanks to grant money from RAPIDS, Belmont has purchased HVAC and energy-efficiency equipment for the purpose of training students. According to the Ohio Department of Higher Education, RAPIDS grants are for collaborative workforce development projects in the western and northern Appalachia and in central Ohio regions. The purpose of the grants is to purchase state-of-the-art equipment for use in learning laboratories specific to regional workforce needs. The northern Appalachian Ohio funds are shared by colleges throughout the region that serve the oil and gas industries and health care fields, including Belmont College.

The RAPIDS grant has provided Belmont the opportunity to purchase the following equipment for use in HVAC classes: geothermal trainer and steam trainer, as well as computers that will work directly with the new equipment. Additionally, energy-efficiency testing equipment, such as thermal guns, a blower door, and an infrared scope, has been purchased.

“We are appreciative for the support from the OMEGA and RAPIDS grants,” said Ed Mowrer, operations manager, Belmont College Energy Institute. “Funding from these grants have enabled us to upgrade the college’s lab facilities with high-tech equipment currently used in the field. We are fully prepared to train our students for the careers that are being generated from the oil and gas industry.”

Specifically, the OMEGA grant has been used to purchase equipment for Belmont’s electronics labs. These labs have been updated with new PLC trainers, instrumentation trainers, general testing equipment, and industrial motor trainers. The college has also purchased new equipment for robotics, as well as embedded computing which is used in the instrumentation and control degree program. Renewable energy and energy-efficiency equipment have been purchased to allow the college to offer a new energy and natural resources degree.

According to Terry Thomas, instrumentation and control instructor, “Through the generosity of OMEGA, Belmont College now has state-of-the-art equipment to aid in the study of the ‘big four’ instrumentation and process control topics: Temperature, pressure, level and flow. This equipment will provide students hands-on experience with devices and sensors widely used in the petrochemical and oil & gas industries.”

Thomas is a Belmont College graduate who continued his education and became a process control engineer, now with over 25 years’ experience in the field.

Furthermore, Belmont’s Civil Engineering Lab has received new testing equipment to analyze concrete samples and material tensile strength properties. Through the grants, Belmont has also expanded its surveying equipment with three new Total Stations which allows for additional surveying courses to serve 50 percent more students.