StuffMadeinMA.com • 2 0 1 8 • S T U F F 19
15%
Amount Worcester
County manufacturing
employees make above
the U.S. average for
the industry.
Source: U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics
mers that were interested in what we were doing,"
Mike Ciprari says.
Today, they've definitely outgrown the basement –
SJC recently moved to a new 60,000-square-foot HQ
– and its roster of drummers includes big names like
Tré Cool of Green Day, Josh Dun of Twenty One
Pilots and Kim Schifino of Matt and Kim.
"My favorite part is working with the artists,
designing custom kits for a band I'm a fan of and
then seeing that drum set on tour or on a record or
on TV," Ciprari says.
Those custom creations can be quite elaborate –
say, a snare made from whiskey barrels for the Zac
Brown Band, or a light-up drum kit for local pop
rockers Boys Like Girls – but they're all produced by
a lean crew of six people, some of whom, Ciprari
notes, had no prior manufacturing experience.
No experience required
Indeed, the pros we spoke to emphasized that if
you're interested in learning to make instruments,
opportunities are out there.
"At Powell, we actually hire all the time for people
doing handwork," Liuzzo says. "We like to train peo-
ple from the ground up, because we want them to do
it the Powell way. If you have any handwork experi-
ence at all – if you've done jewelry, fixing your bicy-
cle, anything like that – as long as you have a good
attitude and you're committed, they'll train you."
Ciprari agrees. "We've got a couple of guys that
were interns that weren't even in tech or trade
school. They were just like 'I want to learn. I want
to be around this company and learn the industry.'
They're back there now operating our CNC
machine," he says. "If you're passionate about
something, follow it."
Mike Ciprari, 33
Cofounder
SJC Custom Drums, Southbridge
Products: Drum kits, snares, hardware and
accessories
Education: A year and a half of college
Favorite band: "311. Everyone makes fun of
me for it, but Chad Sexton is the drummer for it,
and he's the reason I wanted to play the drums
in the first place. I love that band so much."
Average salary for his position*: $128,020
*Based on Bureau of Labor Statistics data
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