Sustain
LED FastStart and Louisiana’s higher education system: partners in prosperity
Innovative, one-of-a-kind programming driving sustained success
Louisiana Economic Development FastStart has spent more than a decade building out its partnership with Louisiana’s higher education system. The result is an unparalleled suite of innovative and acclaimed training programs that equip thousands of soon-to-be college graduates every year with specialized skills, certifications and hands-on experiences for productive and rewarding careers across a wide spectrum of industries.
No other state workforce development program can come close to matching the number, quality and diversity of educational partnerships between LED Fast Start and Louisiana’s network of universities, colleges, HBCUs, community colleges and technical schools.
By working in tandem, LED Fast Start and Louisiana educators are able to meet the constantly evolving needs and expectations of employers and students. Examples of their collaborative programs include:
Southern University at Shreveport
Aviation
Shreveport’s campus of Southern University, an HBCU, continues to build on its Airframe and Powerplant Maintenance program taught at the Shreveport Downtown Airport. The program received a $125,000 bump from FastStart to upgrade and add classroom space.
Grambling State University
Computer Science and Cybersecurity
LED FastStart and Grambling, an HBCU in Northeast Louisiana, paired to establish the university’s Friends of Technology Advisory Board to oversee the implementation of digital technology on campus. The board and LED FastStart also established relationships with leading technology employers from the state, including CGI, DXC Technology, GDIT, IBM, Lumen Technologies (formerly CenturyLink) and Microsoft. The board includes 13 top executives from organizations including NASA and Salesforce.
Nunez Community College
Aerospace with NASA and Boeing
The next mission to the moon is called Artemis, and it starts at the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans where Nunez Community College students are helping build the largest rockets ever built in partnership with Boeing. To expand the steady flow of qualified Louisiana candidates, the LED FastStart team traveled to other schools with aerospace programs, assessing the equipment, facilities, and curriculum a successful program would require. Their findings set the stage for the Aerospace Manufacturing Technology Program at Nunez.
Multiple institutions
Tech/Cyber with DXC and GDIT
LED FastStart continues to deliver comprehensive workforce solutions to DXC Technologies, an information technology services and consulting company, and GDIT, an anchor for Louisiana’s I-20 cyber corridor. For DXC, FastStart manages a $25 million higher education initiative that pairs the company directly with state higher ed institutions. Tech-driven programs like Southeastern’s Workforce Talent Initiative and LSU’s Microcredits program were all funded through the DXC partnership.
GDIT, which has more than 1,000 employees working at its centers for integrated technology, cyber innovation and customer engagement, works with FastStart to cultivate talented system architects, cybersecurity analysts and network engineers via talent development programs at Bossier Parish Community College, Grambling State University, Louisiana Tech, LSU Shreveport, Southern University Shreveport, and Northwestern State.
Louisiana Community and Technical College System
Manufacturing
LED FastStart enhanced the state’s aerospace, automotive and advanced manufacturing industries by installing new Haas 5-Axis CNC machining centers and training curriculum at each college of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System (LCTCS). The Haas universal machining centers enable the automated production of parts on five vertical, horizontal and rotational axes at one time. The machine can carry out a number of different mechanical operations, such as milling, boring, threading, or drilling. Haas 5-axis machines are built for accuracy, precision and efficiency. Louisiana was the first in the U.S. to install advanced Haas 5-axis machining centers at every community and technical college.
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Information Technology with CGI
Powered by the expertise of the LED FastStart team, the Lafayette Engagement and Research Network (LEaRN) Collaborative is a result of a joint partnership between the Lafayette Consolidated Government (LCG), the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and CGI. LEaRN is focused on understanding how smart community initiatives can be successfully leveraged to help local governments better manage resources, improve planning, make more informed decisions and improve citizens’ quality of life.
