On our travels throughout the industry we always enjoy meeting
with plant managers and human resource managers to talk about the challenges of
retaining and recruiting workers. The plants that are located in a metro areas
face competition for qualified applicants. Where plants in rural areas have
difficulty recruiting enough workers due to their low population density of
their surrounding communities. Sometimes it is startling to hear how many open
positions a plant needs to fill. Here is a recent story about how some
companies are actively recruiting the next generation of workers to our
industry.
High school students from Shelby and Miami counties left
their classrooms Friday, October 7, 2016, to participate in Manufacturing Day.
Various industries opened their doors to the students to show them where their
choice of a career can lead them.
For
some Upper Valley Career Center students, their first stop of the day was at
Detailed Machining in Sidney.
“There
are 435 Congressional Districts in the United States,” said U.S. Rep Jim
Jordan, R-Urbana, 4th District, who spoke to the students at Detailed
Machining. “In the 4th District, we are in the top 30 with manufacturing jobs.
Shelby and Miami counties is a great place to work.”
Manufacturing
Day, said Jordan, is an important event to promote what the region has to offer
in the way of careers.
“This
is tremendously important,” said Jordan. “The manufacturing business is looking
good and they are always looking for skilled people to work for them. This is a
good opportunity for the students to see what’s in their backyard.”
The students were able to see first hand the success of
one local business.
“I
started this business in a garage 18 or 19 years ago,”said John Bertsch, owner
of Detailed Machining.
The company is now located at 2490 Ross St., Sidney, in a
42,000-square foot facility which employs 38 people. The company produces
single custom parts to thousands of production parts for their customers.
“This is a lifelong job,” Bertsch said. “You have to have
a passion for what you do. The only limitations you have (in finding a career)
is yourself.
“We make parts of anybody and everybody,” he said.
Upper Valley Career Center, said Bertsch, has been
important to his business. He has had four apprentices from the school at the
business.
Upper Valley Career Center instructor Roger Voisard said
industries are always looking for students to work for their companies.
“There are more jobs available than we have students
available to go out and work,” said Voisard. “In Shelby and Miami counties
there a boon in the industry business. They are coming to us to hire
employees.”
Voisard said he has 20 juniors and 19 seniors in the
program he teaches. Of the 19 seniors, 14 of them are serving apprenticeships
with local manufacturing companies.
“If the need arises, we could increase the number of
students in the program,” said Voisard. “The (career center) administration and
school board is supportive of the needs of the programs.”
Kathy Voris, Upper Valley Career Center public relations,
said the career center is teaching the students all aspects of working in the manufacturing
field. “The needs of the workers have evolved and changed over the years,” said
Voris. “Our students receive a computer their first week of school and they use
it until they graduate.”
A total of 242 Upper Valley Career Center students participated
in the tour. They were divided into four groups. Each group visited two
companies. Besides Detailed Machining, students visited Brown Industrial in
Botkins, Isaiah Industries in Piqua, BasTech in Vandalia, Captor Corp in Tipp
City, West Troy Tool & GSM in Troy, MINCO Group in Dayton and French Oil in
Piqua.
Three
manufacturers in Russia hosted Manufacturing Day for Russia High School
students. Students watched “American Ingenuity,” a manufacturing video, learned
what manufacturers are looking for in an employee and watched a PowerPoint
about manufacturing and Russia businesses and the manufacturing video, “Behind
Closed Doors.”
The students toured Superior Aluminum Products, Francis
Manufacturing and O’Reilly Machine Tool Services.
Manufacturing Day, which is observed on the first Friday
of October, is a day when the next generation of manufacturers can be inspired
by visiting existing companies and see what career opportunities are offered.
The founders of Manufacturing Day are Fabricators &
Manufacturers Association, International, National Association of
Manufacturers, Manufacturing Extension Partnership and Manufacturing Institute.
We chose to include the company and individual names because
they should be commended on their good work. We love to hear stories on how
companies are reaching out to local high school students. We hear countless
times on our visits “can’t get enough good workers” “where can we find
qualified applicant”, etc. Our plants have to recruit the next generation of
workers. We have to reach out to the technical schools to form partnerships so
that the students can learn the skills that they will need in our industry.
Keep up the good work!
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