“Companies that are looking ahead could be OK, but those that aren’t could hurt their bottom line by not being able to meet customers’ needs.” – Lauri Howard, director of workforce training, Gateway Technical College
Gateway looks to partner with companies to provide training
By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
While the sluggish economy continues to leave a higher than average unemployment rate, manufacturing companies throughout Walworth County have struggled to fill specialized positions.
In an effort to address both scenarios, Gateway Technical College recently hosted a seminar about the county’s workforce needs in a number of positions, including welding, robotics, and computer numerical control (CNC).
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Representatives from 19 manufacturing companies across the county attended the seminar, which was held July 26 at Gateway’s Elkhorn campus.
With an onslaught of baby boomers retiring, positions in specialized manufacturing positions have been opening up across the county. But job-seekers oftentimes lack the skills to assume vacated positions.
“It’s turned out to be a perfect storm,” said Lauri Howard, director of workforce training with Gateway. “Companies that are looking ahead could be OK, but those that aren’t could hurt their bottom line by not being able to meet customers’ needs.”
Howard and other Gateway officials have stated a commitment to meeting the heightened demands in the manufacturing industry. But there are some constraints – at least with the Elkhorn facility.
While Gateway’s facilities in Kenosha and Racine counties are well equipped, Howard said the Walworth County campus in Elkhorn is dwarfed by comparison with no dedicated facility to hands-on classes.
“There’s a small welding lab, but there’s no CNC equipment,” Howard said. “Our facilities in Elkhorn are very, very limited.”
A portion of last week’s meeting was used as a gauge to see if the post-secondary institution could partner with one or more manufacturers to offer onsite training in Walworth County. Training onsite is a great way for workers to get a hands-on approach to the actual machinery they’ll be working with. Manufacturing is an important part of the economy and it requires a great deal of skill to pull off. There is equipment that must be handled carefully with certain requirements needed for it to function, for example, working with certain metals and steel may mean that heat treating is involved, this might not be done onsite and will have manufacturers researching such phrases as “heat treating near me” so they can be put in touch with a similar business. Not only will this provide the right manufacturing input, but trainees can see what exactly is needed and how that factors into what they do, giving them an all-around look at the business and its various components.
“This is something Gateway is very committed to because we want to expand our product offerings in Elkhorn,” Howard said. “We want to expand our presence in the area.”
The alternative is for students to travel to Gateway’s facilities in Kenosha, Pleasant Prairie and Sturtevant to take some of the hands-on courses that are unavailable at the smaller Elkhorn campus.
In discussing possible expansion efforts, Howard described the collaboration with local manufacturing companies as “a very creative dialogue.”
Gateway officials broached the prospect of offering some of the hands-on classes at local manufacturing facilities that have the necessary equipment. But Howard said a number of logistics have proved such a proposal challenging.
“A lot of the companies are operating with three shifts at the moment, so they’re at capacity,” she said. “There are also liability issues.”
But several possibilities remain on the table – including Gateway expanding its Elkhorn facility or using a manufacturing company’s vacant building.
The latter could come into play, Howard said, because one local manufacturer is considering putting a building up for sale. Howard declined to name the name of the company because the building is not yet up for sale.
Another proposal being examined is a so-called boot camp, offered over a brief period of time, for job seekers. Emphasis not only would focus on job skills, but employability skills.
“Some people don’t have a great track record when it comes to employment,” Howard said. “This would be about helping them gain those skills.”
