Collin College awarded $1.3 million in Skills Development Fund grants

April 09, 2025

Kirk Dickey

Back to Newsroom Business owners/workers and Collin College officials pose with an oversized check for $158,958 - one of four dispersed at the check signing event.

Business owners/workers and Collin College officials pose with an oversized check for $158,958 - one of four dispersed at the check signing event.

Ken Lento said that training from Collin College, funded through Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) Skills Development Fund (SDF) grants, came at just the right time.

The small business unit director for Flexlink Systems, Lento said a grant funding 12,000 hours of training allowed his company to shift from one electronic project management system to another seamlessly.

“It fit perfectly,” Lento said. “It was a great experience. We have already started talking about what training we can do next and what training we can do going forward. We are really pleased to have gone through this process and for what we have achieved.”

Representatives from Flexlink Systems and 12 other businesses were on hand as TWC officially announced $1.3 million in SDF grants for the Collin County area. The four grants announced on April 9 will fund 26,000 hours of training for 834 new and current employees in areas ranging from CompTIA Network+ and cloud computing training to circuit printing and forklift safety and certification.

The grant awards included: $478,770 to train 227 new and current employees at Encore Wire Corporation and StatLab Medical Products in McKinney; $362,157 to train 370 new and current employees at Amphenol Fiber Systems International, Cain Watters & Associates, Cates Control Systems, and Natural Polymer International Corporation; $353,072 to train 169 new and current employees at CSG Forte Payments Inc., FlexLink Systems Inc., Netrio, and Portable Solar; $158,958 to train 78 new and current employees at Helm Dental Laboratory and Unicom Engineering.

“We are presenting skills development grants today that total over $1.3 million,” said Dr. Neil Matkin, district president of Collin College. “That’s not chump change. It is very important for our business community.”

Natalie Greenwell, Collin College’s executive director of Grants Management, echoed Dr. Matkin’s sentiments while also noting that businesses help drive the local economy.

“What you do is so important, and what you do adds vibrancy to our communities,” Greenwell said. “We play a small part in making sure your employees have the skills they need to continue to be excellent employees and so that your company remains profitable and remains in Texas.”

Texas Workforce Commissioner Alberto Treviño III also spoke at the event, explaining that SDF grants have helped 4,900 employers since first being established in 1996. The grants help upskill and train employees through partnerships with educational institutions like Collin College and create jobs by helping employers purchase new equipment.

“What everybody is talking about today is teamwork and partnerships,” Treviño III said. “This area is thriving, and not just in manufacturing, semiconductor chip making. It is also about healthcare and helping people with disabilities find jobs and helping law enforcement in rural areas.”

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