Since 1962, Merced College has existed as both an institution anchored to the community and a collection of people who take seriously their role as partners within that community.
All you have to do is drive around this area to find good vibes in abundance that illustrate the productive relationships the college has developed for more than six decades.
Merced College is still here, still helping local students succeed, and still doing good and hard work through its connections in education, local industry, municipal government, health care, public safety and more.
Trust
Merced Union High School District Superintendent Alan Peterson and Merced College Superintendent/President Chris Vitelli have known each other for more than 13 years — three years longer than they’ve been working in their current positions.
They’ve had time to build trust in each other.
“You will not find a deeper or stronger partnership statewide between a California Community College and a school district than ours,” Peterson said.
The relationship has borne important fruit through dual enrollment, where students earn college and high school credits simultaneously in one college course. From the start, the two leaders spoke constantly, looking for ways to make those opportunities more accessible to all students.
“For example, students had to go to the college to enroll,” Peterson said. “There were lots of, in my opinion, unnecessary hoops for them to jump through. I identified that for Chris early on, and he figured out a way to fix it. When we work on challenges, I know we both trust that we have everyone’s best interests at heart.”
As a result, more than 2,600 MUHSD students (23.8%) took at least one Merced College course during the 2025-26 school year. While the idea seemed out of reach not so long ago, Peterson said a growing number of students from every school in the district are now able to graduate with an associate’s degree and a high school diploma.
Understanding
When the Merced Community College District (MCCD) held its first classes in September 1963, leaders had already looked west to Los Banos to be Merced’s future comrade-in-arms. The Los Banos Campus opened just 8 years later.
Los Banos native Mike Amabile, the two-time and current mayor of Los Banos, said the city has always understood it would help the college drive its mission.
“The college is always part of our discussions; it’s not separate,” Amabile said. “We’re all here together. We understand each other’s needs. Even if we’re not sure how the college can help, we ask and find out how often they can.”
A vital public project was completed when the city of Los Banos dug a new well on the permanent Los Banos Campus along CA-152 when it opened in 2007.
Workforce training opportunities in Los Banos have exploded in the past seven years as the campus began offering nursing and electrical technician training. The money from the Measure P bond passed in 2024 will fund a new career technical education building for an already successful welding program.
“Bringing that much job training to the college has been so valuable to Los Banos residents,” Amabile said. “But then there’s the connection we can give to local employers as a way to attract companies to the area. It’s so compelling for them to know that they can offer internships and apprenticeships or job training through Merced College. Los Banos can make that happen. That economic development improves people’s lives.”
Consistency
Laird Manufacturing will celebrate 90 years in business in 2027. It was back in 1989, when Laird shifted from being a welding repair outfit to a company that designs and manufactures cattle feeding equipment, that they began to lean more heavily on Merced College to staff its three locations.
Elena Abarca, who has overseen human resources at Laird since 2019, said the company frequently hires from the college’s Welding Technology and other CTE programs.
The relationship has been such a constant for Laird Manufacturing that its owner Isaac Isakow, and his three brothers chose to make a significant show of faith and appreciation to the college.
In December 2021, in honor of their late mother, the Isakow family donated $1 million to build the Hermione Isakow Plaza in front of the Merced College Theater.
Laird representatives continue to visit campus to share employment opportunities with students and to schedule interviews and testing for potential new Laird employees. Laird Manufacturing also remains a frequent customer at Merced College’s Business Resource Center, which can and has created customized skills training for Laird.
Said Abarca, who has worked at the company for 24 years, “We do a lot together, and I want to continue that partnership.”
Synergy
Mercy Medical Center sits right across G Street from Merced College. The geographical proximity is just part of what drives this partnership.
Merced College nursing and radiology students regularly cross the street to train at the hospital on real patients. And many Mercy Medical practitioners, for decades now, have crossed the street to the college’s Allied Health complex to teach the new generation of health care workers.
The hospital, operated by Dignity Health, is an important clinical site for Merced College RN students, who complete their clinical rotations at Mercy each seamster. Dignity also sends its employees to do workforce training and professional development through Merced College programs like the Customer Service Academy.
The synergy between the two local institutions paid off at the most important time in early 2021, when the first COVID-19 vaccines were being rolled out. Merced College hosted several large-scale vaccine clinics, using an excess supply of the vaccines from Dignity Health, UC Health, and UC Merced at Blue Devil Gymnasium.
Staffed by instructors and student volunteers from the Allied Health Nursing Department at Merced College, the clinics served over 3,000 people.
Growth
As Merced County grows, so does its public safety, law enforcement and first responder needs. For decades, Merced College has had programs that trained law enforcement, emergency medical personnel and firefighters.
“The relationship we have with Merced College started long ago, way before my time,” said Merced Fire Department Chief Casey Wilson, an alumnus of the Fire Academy program. “We’ve been able to build our force locally using Merced College graduates for a long time. We know that when we call Professor Donnie Roe or Allied Health Dean Joe Serena, they’re always on board to support us.”
The Merced College Fire Fighter 1 Academy received state accreditation in January. Next month, instructors will begin interviewing fire academy candidates to start training with the Spring 2027 cohort.
The growth forged from the collaboration between the city fire department and the college can also be seen through the paramedic program, which welcomed its first cohort of students in January 2023.
“The college really stepped up and put a phenomenal program together,” Wilson said. “We’ve seen an immediate improvement in our service to the community because of that.”
Merced Fire can reach those big goals with the college’s help.
“With paramedics on our trucks, we’re not just meeting the standard; we’re exceeding it,” Wilson said. “Our county supervisors, the Merced City Council, the Merced College Board of Trustees — they were all utterly impressed by what they’re seeing.”
The college created a hybrid program so current firefighters could attend classes as their schedule allowed. They thought it would take three years to build it up, but it took just 18 months.
Prior to the start of the paramedic program, there was one paramedic-firefighter working with Merced Fire. Now there are 20.
“Building up the paramedic program with Merced College has probably been one of the most collaborative experiences I’ve seen on any front in quite some time,” Wilson said. “Just that willingness to reach that common goal has been outstanding.”