Mainebiz

S P R I N G 2 0 2 3 / W O R K F O R M E 41 M a n u f a c t u r i n g "There's a long-held [idea] that manufacturing is a dirty busi- ness, and people have not been exposed to the improvements that have happened over the last few decades," Roughton says. "They still have this mental image of dirt floors with a lot of smoke and hazardous conditions that just do not exist." Path of precision Ethan Bubar, 20, took a nine- month course in computer nu- merical control (CNC) machin- ing at Central Maine Community College, graduating in May 2022. He was immediately hired by Kennebec Technologies, a con- tract manufacturer in Augusta that specializes in high-precision aerospace parts. "My senior year I had to take a trade, and the only trade that really interested me was machin- ing," Bubar says. "Right now, at Kennebec, I'm making a part for the Air Force. I just like the idea of making parts for people across the world." Shawn Arbour, Kennebec Technologies' director of sales and marketing, says most of the shop's roughly 60 workers received their initial training through the state's community college system. Ken- nebec has a close relationship with the community colleges and is represented on multiple advisory boards, he says. "Our relationship is such that I can call a director like Rich (Bold- ing, precision machining chair- person at CMCC) … and I can ask him about (a prospective) em- ployee and he'll tell me the God's honest truth about them, whether it's good or bad," Arbour says. There's a "huge shortage" of manufacturing job candidates in Maine, he says, in part because the profession isn't heavily promoted at high schools, which tend to em- phasize four-year college degrees. But not every student wants to go to school for that long, Arbour says, and for manufacturing, they don't have to. The most important thing Kennebec looks for in new hires is people with integrity who are honest and reliable, he says. The job pays well, takes place entirely indoors and provides ample op- portunities for cross-training and continuing education. "It's a good career path to get into if you like working with your hands and take pride in what you do," Arbour says. Bubar, the CMCC grad, says he would recommend the com- munity college route for anyone interested in learning precision machining or other manufactur- ing-related skills. It's not the sort BY THE NUMBERS Maine manufacturers produced $6.4 billion worth of goods in 2019, the most recent year available, up from $5.4 billion in 2008. In 2019, manufacturing made up 9.5% of Maine's total output and employed about 8.4% of the state's workforce. Manufacturing employed about 49,000 Mainers in 2020, with an average salary of $68,570 — 60% above the state average for all nonfarm payroll jobs of $42,825. S O U R C E S : U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis; U.S. Census Bureau C O N T I N U E D O N F O L LO W I N G PAG E »

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