Macomb Community College: Transforming a Workforce and Lives

Macomb Community College in Warren, Michigan touts its transformative impact on students and communities. Now, this Detroit-area institution is helping transform maritime manufacturing in the Great Lakes region as the need for America’s next Navy ships grows.

The state’s largest community college is on the front lines of the Michigan Maritime Manufacturing (M3) initiative through its Accelerated Training Industry Partnership. A Navy-funded investment by BlueForge Alliance (BFA) facilitated the creation of a maritime skilled training program at Macomb. The mission of the federal, state and local partnership is to help address the high demand for welders and CNC machinists at Navy Maritime Industrial Base (MIB) suppliers in the region.

M3 was announced in July 2024. Just four months later, the new Macomb program had been stood up, and the first cohort began training. By March 2025, 21 students completed the 17-week, 600-hour program, having taken advantage of dozens of CNC machines, welding booths and welders which had been integrated into Macomb’s Michigan Technical Education Center (M-TEC). The equipment allows for high-level hands-on training related to maritime manufacturing.

“This is a great opportunity for students to support our national defense initiatives, and that's something that they don't take lightly,” said James O. Sawyer IV, the president of Macomb Community College. “It's something they're very proud to be able to do and help play a role in supporting the strongest Navy in the world, and it's something that they can be proud of as they go forward in their career.”

Through a multi-phase process over the coming years, more than 200 students are planned to graduate from the Macomb maritime skilled training program each year.

The Navy-funded investment provides for the creation of the state-of-the-art training, plus class and supply costs for nearly 400 participants through early 2027. While participating students’ costs may be covered, they are still committing their time and energy to program success, devoting 40 hours each week for multiple months as part of this opportunity.

"They made a commitment to come here for 17 weeks full-time starting early in the morning, staying through the early afternoon," Sawyer said. "Many of them have a lot of personal challenges as well, and they've overcome all those challenges and persisted until they reached a successful threshold."

A graduation ceremony for the first cohort was held by Macomb March 20, 2025, one attended by federal, state and local officials, including Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. The celebration of past school success also featured many graduates securing their futures by signing employment agreements.

Jamal Adams was a member of the inaugural class. A Detroit native who had worked manufacturing and production jobs in and outside Michigan, he was laid off from his job in 2024. While searching for new opportunities, he found BFA-owned BuildSubmarines.com, which led him to discover the maritime skilled training program at Macomb into which he was eventually accepted to learn CNC machining.

While devoting his time and energy to the intensive training, Adams’s unemployment ran out. Through eviction from his residence and while staying at a homeless shelter – a series of events says he shared with few people at Macomb – the 52-year-old persevered. He hopes his story serves as an example that anyone can enter the program and achieve success.

“I had to put in 150 percent. I had a lot of shortcomings, a lot of challenges while I was in the program,” Adams said. “One thing I can say about the M-TEC people: the staff, they are beautiful people. They’re there for us all the time. They want to see us succeed.”

Adams was hired straight out of the program by Dynasty Fab, a MIB supplier located minutes from the college. The company’s fabrication, machining and assembly work runs through the defense industry among others, and their need for quality tradespeople is greater than ever. Including Adams, they hired seven of the first Macomb cohort.

“I can grow with the program,” said Zach Jeakle, Dynasty Fab’s president and founder. “I can literally time out when we need to hire and just pull people in as the time comes, so it stops my constant job search, the constant interviewing. We can just plan right around the program, and we like to grow, so it works out perfect.”

“Our primary mission at Macomb Community College is to help students transform their lives through education, enrichment and economic development,” Sawyer said. “M3 is really something that embraces two of those strands very closely, the education and economic development, so it just fits with what we do here at the college so well.”

More than 400 Michigan companies, including nearly 200 in the Detroit area, support U.S. Navy nuclear programs. Now, they have a solid pipeline for talent from Macomb Community College, where career dreams and Navy goals can be realized.

For more information on Macomb Community College’s Maritime Accelerated CNC Machining and Maritime Accelerated Welding training, visit the Training section of BuildSubmarines.com.

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(Images in Macomb Community College's M-TEC provided by Macomb)