Somerville's Adult Manufacturing Training a Harvard 'Bright Idea' Initiative

SOMERVILLE, MA – The City of Somerville's Advanced Manufacturing Training Program was recognized by Harvard University this week as a 2017 Bright Ideas initiative.

Bright Ideas, sponsored by the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, honors innovative public programs nationwide that aim to improve services, solve problems and work on behalf of residents.

The Advanced Manufacturing Training Program trains adults as machinists in the Somerville High School machine shop after school. Participants learn the skills needed in a modern manufacturing facility and graduate with OSHA-10 certification. Participants may also simultaneously study for their GED at the Somerville Center for Adult Learning Experiences.

"Bright Idea honorees demonstrate that there are no prerequisites for doing the good work of governing," Stephen Goldsmith, director of the Innovations in American Government Program at the Ash Center, said in a statement. “Small towns and massive cities, huge federal agencies and local school districts, large budgets or no budgets at all — what makes government work best is the drive to do better, and this group proves that drive can be found anywhere."

For consideration as a Bright Idea, programs must currently be operating or in the process of launching, have sufficient operational resources and must be government-supported. Non-profit, private sector and union initiatives are eligible if they partner with a governmental organization.

>>>Click here for the full list of 2017 Bright Ideas

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