Hartford Business Journal

8 Hartford Business Journal • July 18, 2016 www.HartfordBusiness.com Technical high school system grooms workforce pipeline By Matthew Broderick Special to the Hartford Business Journal A s the director of human resources for both Carey Manu- facturing and Floyd Manu- facturing, two Cromwell- based family businesses, Peter Egan sees the big challenge facing the state's manufacturing sector every day: The need for a pipeline of skilled young people to fill the shoes of an aging workforce. "I think we lost a gen- eration of people who thought [the state] was losing its manufacturing jobs," Egan said. "So we have a large gap in skilled, qualified workers in Connecticut." But the state seems to have a strategy to reverse that trend, investing millions in education and job training through Connecticut's technical high school and com- munity college systems to close that gap. The state's manufacturing sector is a key driver of Connecticut's economic activity. While the sector took a hit during the Great Recession, it has rebounded in the state, employing nearly 170,000 people and generat- ing more than $27 billion in activity, according to 2015 figures from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. That has created both short- and long-term demand for workers, which has fueled strong alliances between manufacturers, school systems, workforce development boards and nonprofits across the state. "One of our primary goals is to build partner- ships with business and industry to ensure our pro- grams [and training] are aligned with their needs," said Dr. Nivea Torres, Super- intendent of the Connecticut Technical High School Sys- tem (CTHSS), which oper- ates 17 technical schools across the state and serves 11,200 full-time high school and adult students and 2,000 apprenticeship pupils. With state support — a five year, $10 million invest- ment — Torres said, she has been able to expand capabil- ities and invest in infrastruc- ture that will allow the state's technical high schools to build a manufacturing pipeline for years to come. She notes each school now features modern machinery to train students for precision manufacturing and advanced design. Students are also learning about energy-saving technologies. "In partnership with the Connecticut Energy Effi- ciency and Connecticut Green Bank, our technical high schools developed the nation's first green construction learning laboratories," Torres said, "allowing students the opportunity to design, build and operate energy- efficient laboratories at each of our sites and be trained in green technologies." The state's technical high school system has also aggressively developed partnerships. Kim Oliver, direc- tor of youth services for Hartford's Capital Workforce Partners (CWP), one of the state's five workforce devel- opment boards, works closely with the technical high school's student population. "We serve people ages 14 to 24," Oliver said, "and work to prepare students and young adults for jobs that can provide a living wage." The state's focus on the manufacturing sector — and the manufacturing certificate programs at many of Con- necticut's community institutions, including Enfield's Asnuntuk Community College — have been critical in providing a career path for a vulnerable population. "There are 6,300 teens and young adults in Hartford that are out of work or without a high school degree," Oliver said, noting CWP invests nearly $2 million a year in youth programming in Hartford and New Britain. The certificate programs not only help to build techni- cal competencies for students, Oliver explained, but also can be used as credit towards an associate's degree. It's an approach that's been drawing people both to commu- nity colleges in general and the manufacturing sector in particular. "We have about 200 CWP youth enrolled in the certificate programs and a quarter of those are in manufacturing-focused tracks," Oliver said. And it's not just young adults that are interested. In fact, the Eastern Work- force Investment Board (EWIB) in North Frank- lin is undertaking efforts to engage middle school- ers envisioning a career path to manufacturing. "We want adolescents to understand what a via- ble career manufactur- ing can be," said Ginny Sampietro, EWIB's senior director of employment services. "In fact, this summer we have a Young Manufacturer's Academy to introduce students to manufacturing." And that's just the surface. Mark Hill, EWIB's chief operating officer, noted that in 2015 his workforce board received a $6 million grant from the Department of Labor to help train — and place in jobs — 450 people over the next three years. "The key to our success has been an engaged community," Hill said. "We have more than 56 area manufacturers, including Electric Boat, involved [with our organization] and representation from the technical high school system on our board." It's all driving a manufacturing sector that looks primed for future growth, fueled by an increasingly technically trained student population. Torres says her school system will continue to innovate and possibly branch into other growth areas in Connecti- cut such as digital media, allied health and biotechnology. "We want to become the best technical high school system in the nation," she said. "And we're well on our way to achieving that goal." n Student Quentin Bagby is at Asnuntuck Community College's manufacturing lab, one of the many Connecticut education institutions grooming manufacturing workers. FOCUS MANUFACTURING Q&A State recruits unemployed, others for manufacturing jobs Q&A talks with Mark Ojakian, the president of the Connecticut State Colleges & Universities system, about the new advanced manufacturing program being offered through his system to meet an increasing demand for a changing workforce. Q: The Connecticut State College and Univer- sity (CSCU) system, in conjunction with the state Department of Labor (DOL), has announced the "advanced manufacturing" program. What is it and what are some of its goals? A: In response to increasing demand for highly skilled jobs in Connecticut, seven of the CSCU com- munity colleges offer certificate programs in advanced manufac- turing (Asnuntuck, Housatonic, Man- chester, Middlesex, Naugatuck Valley, Quinebaug Valley and Three Rivers Com- munity Colleges). The remaining five colleg- es also offer individ- ual advanced manu- facturing courses, but not full certificate programs. The curriculum was devel- oped in collaboration with local employers such as Pratt & Whit- ney, Sikorsky, Electric Boat, etc., to make sure the skills learned matched the needs of available jobs. To drive awareness, CSCU launched the "Make It. Here" cam- paign, part of which includes the partnership with the DOL to reach the state's unemployed and under- employed residents. The part- nership aims to walk residents through the enrollment process with one-on-one assistance. The benefits of the program are: • Completion of the program in less than 10 months (two semesters); • Out-of-pocket tuition and fees as low as $1,000 (with avail- able scholarships, grants and financial aid); • A 98 percent job placement rate for those who complete; • Available paid internships for qualified students; • Additional available funds for DOL recipients from Work- force Investment Boards and Training Adjustment Assistance funds for dis- placed workers. The goal of the partnership is simple: To match CSCU graduates to the workforce needs our state has and will have in the future and in this case well-paying, in- demand jobs in Connecticut's manufacturing companies. Q: You're attempting to reach potential students not aware of this program at seven community colleges throughout the state. Is the thinking there would be higher enrollment if there was more one-on-one assis- tance available to get enrolled? A: Yes, that is a part of it. Part of our core mission is to make pub- lic education acces- sible to anyone who wants it, and CSCU's primary objective is to educate Connecti- cut residents. In addi- tion, manufacturing careers today are in high-demand, highly paid and secure. All of Connecticut's major manufacturing companies, and their "downstream" manu - facturing suppliers, expect to grow significantly during the next 10 to 15 years based on new or renewed contracts. One of the objectives behind the campaign is to inform potential students (of all ages) that good jobs are available, and CSCU advanced manufacturing programs can help people get started on a great career. Another objective is to let people know that manufacturing work today is very different from what it was a few decades ago. Manufacturing today is conduct - ed in significantly more modern, cleaner and more automated envi- ronments, producing products for the aerospace, biomedical technol- ogy and maritime defense indus- tries, among others. A third objective is to let peo- ple know that these programs — due to the program length, the placement rate and the financial aid available to qualified students — are substantially more acces- sible to students all over the state. Q: This program obviously exists because of a stated need. How many students do you need to have finish this program to make a dent in employment demand? A: As indicated above, Connect- icut's manufacturers are in great need of skilled workers to fill the MARK OJAKIAN President, Connecticut State Colleges & Universities system P H O T O | C O N T R I B U T E D ▶ ▶ ' In partnership with the Connecticut Energy Efficiency and Connecticut Green Bank, our technical high schools developed the nation's first green construction learning laboratories.' Dr. Nivea Torres, Superintendent of the Connecticut Technical High School System (CTHSS) Continued

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