The manufacturing sector in Cowlitz County is slumping, but Brian Sena thinks there’s still a future in it.

A mill operator with 17 years’ experience, Sena, 40, was laid off this summer from a chemical plant. Instead of shifting his career path, Sena enrolled in a new program at Lower Columbia College to study manufacturing processing, including electronics, hydraulics and temperature systems.

He said he sees a future in manufacturing, even though that sector that has shed 700 jobs in Cowlitz County over the past year.

“With the degree, it’s going to make you stand out,” the Kelso resident said.

LCC received $395,000 from the federal stimulus package to pay for four workforce training programs, including two separate programs to train workers for large- and small-scale manufacturing plants. The other two fields are healthcare, with a focus on nursing, and heavy equipment maintenance.

The money covers tuition, books and other equipment for 65 students, said Brendan Glaser, LCC dean of workforce and continuing education. Classes started this week and must be completed by next July.

About two-thirds of the students are laid-off workers recommended by the Kelso WorkSource office, Glaser said. The rest are low-income adults who applied through WorkSource.

The two manufacturing programs, which have a total of 35 students, were the hardest to fill, he said.

“People are obviously a little wary of what’s happening with the manufacturing industry in our region,” Glaser said.

However, area manufacturers still need workers, he said. Local plants, such as Longview Fibre Paper and Packaging Co. and Norpac, started hiring again this year, and skilled workers are reaching retirement age, he said.

“Eventually it’s going to pick up, and there is going to be a need for people with these skills,” Glaser said.

Delores Stone, 43, of Kalama is hoping to learn skills to work at a bioenergy plant — which transforms leftover organic material into power — or some other “green” field. Stone shut down the home-framing business she owned this summer after the housing market crashed, and she wants to get into a field that has a future.

This quarter, she’s taking classes on hydraulics, electronics and heating and cooling.

“It’s all a new thing, and I’m excited about learning it,” Stone said.

For Sena, who already knows the ins and outs of a manufacturing, the courses are providing him with a lot of the theory behind the operation. That knowledge could help him earn more money in his next job, he said.

“It could allow me to move up quickly into a leadership position,” Sena said.