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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 people from the ground up, because
we want them to do it the Powell way. If you have any handwork
experience at all – if you've done jewelry, fixing your bicycle,
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
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
27%
Increase in the average annual pay
of Massachusetts manufacturing
employees from 2007-2017
Source: U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics
