RANDOLPH, Vt. -
A small dairy farm in Vermont, got a big visitor Tuesday afternoon. The U.S. labor secretary was at Vermont Technical College, to announce a $3.4 million dollar grant.
As a professor described the money will help complete the loop on farm to plate.
"We teach do-ers," Vermont Technical College President Phillip Conroy said.
The president couldn't be happier to welcome Hilda Solis.
Secretary Solis mingled with Vermont state reps, and Senator Bernie Sanders whom she called a "mentor." She was also quick to get in her boots and on the farm.
"I'm just taken by the interaction and the hands-on experience that the students are gaining," Secretary Solis said.
At Vermont Tech, students are growing their own food, and bottling their own milk.
"We're still one of the few colleges that in New England, still runs its own farm," President Conroy said.
The $3.4 million dollar grant will help the school meet trade employment needs, and improve it's college-level certificates.
"So the information here, if it works, and I believe it will, then it will be shared with other campuses and other parts of the country," Secretary Solis said.
Solis says it's for young people wanting to get into a growing field, but also re-entry.
"It's for people who lost their jobs through no fault of their own," Solis said.
"We're excited to teach welders, we're excited to train mechanics," Associate Professor Chris Dutton said.
Professors are eager to get to work, and as one told us, it all starts here.
"I don't want my milk to come from the midwest, if it can come from my neighborhood," Dutton said.
This money is part of a $2 billion dollar national grant program.
Secretary Solis says she's visited about 7 other programs, she expects Vermont Tech to be a big success.
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