6/20/05

New Cohort Metalworking Classes at LMC
Offer Solutions to Shortage of Skilled Trades People

Metalworking Job Fair Schedule for June 29 at LMC Bertrand Crossing Campus

BENTON TOWNSHIP, MI - As the region's metalworking industry stages a comeback from a six-year economic slump, companies are facing a shortage of skilled workers. Lake Michigan College's new cohort model for delivering machine tool technology classes is proving to be a popular solution for area manufacturing companies who are seeking high-skill workers to meet growing production demand.

Ken Flowers, director of LMC's Machine Tool Technology program, said the cohort classes being introduced this fall will provide metalworking companies with a format better tailored to their training needs. Regional companies can enroll their employees in classes as a group. The new training structure offers a variety of benefits, according to Flowers, who developed the idea based on input from several area manufacturers.

"Students and their employers can be assured that the classes they need will be available," stated Flowers. "With everybody getting together at one time to sign up, we can even change the schedule if we need to, so if Tuesdays won't work, we might say 'let's make it Thursdays instead.'"

"Also, by working in tandem with other employees from their work sites, students learn to problem solve with each other. This helps with the flow of classroom programs and lets students develop valuable team-building skills they need on the job," he said.

Flowers said local manufacturing executives excited about the wave of new contracts coming in, but concerned about the shortage of skilled trade people, have all but been knocking on his door for leads on students from LMC program.

"Everybody is looking for skilled employees who can get the job done. For example, I recently called a shop to recommend a student and they hired him without even looking at his resume. We have a good reputation for developing strong skills among our student, but besides that, it shows the demand employers have right now," he said.

Tony Hess, owner of Hess Industries which includes X-Cel Steel Fabricating and Hess Engineering, both in Niles and Capitol Technologies in Niles and South Bend, agrees.

"With the turn-around in the machining industry, now, of course, we need people, and that's why we've decided to beef up our apprentice program again with hands-on training in our facility and the required schooling at LMC."

Hess said statistics put out by the Association of Manufacturing Technology showed a 68 percent decline in consumption of machine tool products since 1996.

"During this period many companies in our industry either had to close their doors or downsize very substantially. However, starting in 2003 we began to see an upturn. In 2004 we saw roughly 15 to 20 percent growth, and this year a 10 to 15 percent increase so far."

Jim Gillette, director of supplier analysis for CSM Worldwide in Grand Rapids, which conducts market analyses for both the automotive industry and their suppliers, attributes renewed interest in West Michigan tool manufacturers, in part, to a lack of skilled trades people in the South, which had seen a lot of production activity in the past several years.

"What's happened is that in states like North and South Carolina and Georgia the price of labor has been bid up to the point where manufacturers are becoming competitive again," he said, adding that it's his feeling that innovative training programs like LMC's new cohort classes will attract businesses from the outside the region looking for places to relocate.

That's good news for individuals contemplating a future in machine tool technology, which requires "a unique set of attributes" according to Wannis Parris, president of Delta Machining Company in Niles.

"The basics haven't changed. It's a job demanding in skills, requiring a mechanical aptitude, a high degree of intelligence, a good memory and a lot of training - as much as five years -- to be really good at it," he said. "And if you're good at it, the money is good too."

Delta is seeking 15 skilled trades people to fulfill orders from new and repeat industrial air-compressor and air-conditioning customers and the after-market auto industry.

LMC will conduct the cohort machine tool technology classes at its Bertrand Crossing Campus in Niles, M-TEC facility in Benton Harbor, and Napier Avenue Campus in Benton Township, with initial emphasis on each company's core requirements.
"Of course, the College always stresses the importance of an associate's degree so we will work with each student to determine what degree works best with their company's core requirement," stated Flowers. "From there, we will guide them into the general education courses that complement their core major. Potential degrees are in the areas of skilled trades technology, machine tool technology, drafting and design and industrial maintenance."

College faculty and staff will work with interested companies to determine where each campus will focus its subject matter each semester. So far, 10 area manufacturers have expressed interest it the format.

Other area manufacturing executives supporting the program include Dan Reifschneider, president, Accu-Die Mold, Inc., Bridgman; Garry Rice, general manager, K Mold and Engineering, Inc, Granger, IN; Ken Patzkowsky, president, Hanson Mold, St. Joseph; and Marty Pingel, plant manager, Metal Processors, Inc. Stevensville.

Classes will be held days, nights and, if the need exists, on weekends. A one-day registration session is being planned for early August to assist companies and their employees with the steps for enrolling in the machine tool courses. Fall classes at LMC begin August 29 and registration is going on now for those classes. Individuals wanting more information about the cohort classes or LMC's Machine Tool Technology program should contact Ken Flowers at (269) 927-8100 ext. 3032.

A machining job fair hosted by Lake Michigan College in partnership with Michigan Works, Delta Machining Company, Vickers Engineering, DMI, Hess Industries, and Capitol Technologies will be held Wednesday, June 29, from 9 a.m. - noon, and 4 - 7 p.m., at LMC's Bertrand Crossing Campus in Niles. The campus is located in the Bertrand Crossing Industrial Park just off of US 12 near the US 31 Bypass exit 3.

Individuals interested in this high-wage, high-demand field can talk with company representatives about open positions including machinists, CNC operators, welders, die makers, process technicians, and CNC programmers. LMC will also have information available about the training opportunities the College offers to prepare individuals for careers in the machine tool industry.

For more information about the job fair, call Michigan Works at (800) 533-5800.