Gift brings state-of-the-art automation training to northeast Missouri, expanding apprenticeships and up-skilling opportunities for regional manufacturers.
Moberly Area Community College (MACC) has announced a gift of $117,000 from the Robert E. & Sarah L. Johnson Charitable Trust to purchase robotics and programmable-logic-controller (PLC) equipment for the College’s Workforce Development Center (WDC) in Hannibal.
The Johnsons—both native Missourians remembered for a lifetime of quiet service to their community—left a portion of their estate to Affordable Community Education (ACE), the citizen group that first championed a community-college presence in Hannibal. ACE partnered with MACC to open a Hannibal campus in 2000 and then spearheaded efforts to fund and build a permanent campus, which opened in 2013. This latest gift honors the Johnsons’ legacy by ensuring that local workers can gain the high-level automation skills modern manufacturers demand—without leaving the region.
“Bob and Sarah Johnson built their lives around helping others,” said Dr. Todd Martin, MACC President. “Their generosity will allow MACC to introduce robotics and PLC training to our Hannibal site, addressing a critical skills gap for area employers and creating new career pathways for the residents of Northeast Missouri.”
MACC’s WDC provides customized, non-credit training to Hannibal-area companies in foundational subjects such as Safety, Industrial Maintenance, Blueprint Reading, and Industrial Electricity. In 2021 the College launched its first local apprenticeship through a grant-funded partnership with a manufacturing firm; that program has since become self-sustaining and is now poised to expand to other businesses.
Yet until now, employees seeking advanced automation or robotics instruction had to travel 100 miles to MACC-Columbia for similar training. The Johnson Trust donation will fund:
- Robotic arms and mini robots
- State-of-the-art PLC trainers
- Facility renovations and upgrades
“This donation empowers us to meet industry needs right here in Hannibal,” said Suzi McGarvey, Dean of Workforce Development and Technical Education for MACC. “By adding robotics and automation training locally, we’re expanding access for both employers and employees and enhancing our ability to build a skilled workforce for the region’s future.”
Installation of the new lab is expected to begin this fall, with the first robotics and PLC courses offered early in 2026.
