Community Colleges Linking With CBIA On Manufacturing Training

HARTFORD — The Connecticut Business & Industry Association (CBIA), through a unique public-private partnership, is developing an infrastructure and capacity within the state Community College System to provide needed technical training and education in advanced manufacturing that will better meet the needs of manufacturing companies in Connecticut and western Massachusetts.

The two key goals are to create a new certificate program in lean manufacturing and supply chain management and expanded CNC machining training opportunities using web-delivered simulation training for community college students and manufacturing workers.

Funding for the program is provided by the US Department of Labor, which awarded CBIA a $1.77 million High Growth Job Training Grant in October 2006 to help train Connecticut workers for advanced manufacturing jobs.

CBIA, the state’s largest business organization, with 10,000 members including more than 1,800 manufacturers, is undertaking this project with the expertise and resources of individual employers, including:

*Pratt & Whitney, East Hartford and Middletown

*Kamatics, Bloomfield

*LaceyManufacturing,       Bridgeport

*Whitcraft, Eastford

*Covidien, North Haven

*Trumpf, Farmington

“The decline in the number of qualified employees to fill manufacturing jobs has created a great sense of urgency in Connecticut . That’s resulted in an unprecedented level of statewide public- and private-sector cooperation to develop effective strategies to train the workforce with the skills that will help maintain and grow manufacturing companies, which are vital to the state’s economy,” said Judith Resnick, CBIA director of workforce development and training, and the deputy director of the association’s Education Foundation.

The program will identify common training needs, and community college faculty will develop curriculum and expertise to deliver advanced manufacturing training based on industry requirements.

Seven faculty members from community colleges in Connecticut and western Massachusetts spent the month of June working with experts at the six participating companies, learning about lean manufacturing and supply chain management. The faculty members and industry experts are now writing the curriculum for the certificate program with a pilot program scheduled to begin in November.

“To remain competitive, manufacturers have purchased increasingly sophisticated and costly equipment and have introduced new processes to improve productivity, creating the need for additional technical training for existing workers and new hires. These workers lack the training needed for this equipment,” said Ms Resnick. “We will purchase the simulation software for the community colleges so that they can increase the number of individuals being trained with the skills needed to fill high-tech, high-skill positions in advanced manufacturing.”

Over a three-year period, nearly 400 job seekers, dislocated workers, and incumbent workers in 25 companies will be trained. Participants in the certificate program will also have the opportunity to receive college credit toward an associate degree in manufacturing technology.

Also participating in the program are statewide and regional manufacturing clusters; the Department of Economic and Community Development; the College of Technology’s (COT) Regional Center for Next Generation Manufacturing (RCNGM), and the Connecticut Community College System, representing 12 community colleges; the workforce investment boards; and the Connecticut Department of Labor’s research and workforce system.

Organizations participating from western Massachusetts are the Regional NetWorks and the Regional Employment Board of Hamden County. Both are partners in the Connecticut/Massachusetts Knowledge Corridor Economic Development Initiative, which markets the benefits of the cross-state region, including its skilled workforce and colleges and universities.