Hartford Business Journal

8 Hartford Business Journal • October 30, 2017 • www.HartfordBusiness.com Raising awareness to close the manufacturing skills gap Q&A talks to Susan Palisano, the director of education and workforce development at the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology Inc. (CCAT), which leads October's annual "Connecticut. Dream It. Do It. Manufacturing Month." Q. How did the idea of establishing October as "manufacturing month" come about? A. The Dream It. Do It. (CT DIDI) Manu- facturing Month is part of an effort led by CCAT to develop career awareness and ensure Connecticut manufacturers have ac- cess to a robust, skilled talent pipeline. The idea was to leverage National Manufactur- ing Day on the first Friday of October, and use October to showcase exciting careers through events, tours and open houses. In October, CT DIDI hosted two premier student events: "Manufacturing Mania," with exhibits, hands-on workshops, competitions and guest speakers; and the "Making It Real: Girls & Manufacturing Summit," focused on engaging young women in pursuing manu- facturing careers through experiential activi- ties and positive role models. Since 2012 over 2,800 students have attended these events, and thousands more have participated in other Manufacturing Month activities. Q. What's the most important step in devel- oping a skilled workforce pipeline? A. The key is to develop student aware- ness and engagement at an early age. Without knowledge and interest, it's more difficult to backfill the pipeline. Also, today's skilled manufacturing workplace requires good STEM foundational skills. So it's criti- cal to connect classroom learning and real- world application of STEM skills. There has been limited attention paid to youngsters ages 10 to 14, who are making important decisions about pursuing courses necessary to prepare for skilled STEM ca- reers. This is also when many students lose interest and confidence at succeeding in sci- ence and math. Interventions aimed at older students are often too little, too late. Stu- dents in this age group also begin to make choices about what kind of high school to go to, what core subjects they will work hardest in, what electives they will take, and what careers they will consider. Unfortunately, students typically make these decisions with limited information, which almost never includes manufacturing-related careers. Q. Should the onus be on the private sector or government to groom the next genera- tion workforce? A. It has to be a partnership. Industry needs to play a role at every juncture in developing future talent. The manufacturing commu- nity's support of CTDIDI is critical to program success — from those who sit on our industry advisory committee to the hundreds of tours companies provide our Young Manufacturer Academy students to industry ambassadors representing the face of manufacturing. It's only when industry engages in mean- ingful partnerships with public institutions and government agencies that we can develop new models of skills-based learning that break the mold of how we've done things in the past. Q. The state for years has tried to change the perception away from the idea of manu- Susan Palisano Director of education and workforce development, Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology Inc. FOCUS: Manufacturing By Patricia Daddona pdaddona@HartfordBusiness.com A bout seven years ago, Newington aeroparts supplier PCX Aero- structures reached what seemed like a pinnacle of production, with revenues peaking at $90 million for business that included supplying parts used for government airplanes deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq. Today, having recently landed more than $136 million in federal contracts for work on Boeing's Apache helicopter, the compa- ny is poised to hit $100 million in revenues next year, a new record and up from $70 million in 2016. "We're going to a place that we've never been," said Jeffry Frisby, who became presi- dent and CEO in April. PCX attributes its ability to snag military and commercial contracts with the U.S. government and private companies like Boeing, Gulfstream, Triumph Group and Bell Helicopter, to its skilled workforce. PCX has 150 employees in its Newington facility at 300 Fenn Road, but plans to hire 30 more within the next six months. It also has 53 employees in Texas, and is in the process of closing its Long Island plant, which employs 29, said Frisby and Craig Sulli- van, PCX's vice president of human resources. Committed to staying in Connecticut, Frisby said there is plenty of talent in the state, but also a significant hiring need among manufacturers, which has created a qualified-worker shortage. Every aerospace company in Connecti- cut has employees that use the same skill set PCX is looking for — from computer numerical control (CNC) machine operators and programmers to inspectors, production control workers and manufacturing engi- neers, said Trevor Hartman, the company's vice president of sales and marketing. "Everything is on an uptick, so it just constrains the market a bit," Frisby said. "Commercial's up. Defense is up, and the economy is going strong nowadays. It's not a bad problem to have." To that end, PCX is training high school and some college students through paid in- ternships that can lead to part- or full-time employment, Sullivan said. PCX specializes in precise machining of hard alloys including titanium and steel, and makes airframe assemblies and rotorcraft components for airplanes and helicopters. Sullivan said the company will be hir- ing about 20 workers in Newington to fill manufacturing positions like CNC machin- ists and inspectors for repair and assembly. It will hire another dozen employees for positions that include technical support en- gineers, CNC programmers and operations support supervisors. "We'll do what we need to do in order to get folks on board," said Sullivan. Wooing talent these days requires manu- facturers to offer a competitive salary and benefits, a comfortable work environment and commitment to the surrounding com- munity. PCX recently renovated its engi- neering offices and has employee-engage- ment programs that include a summer golf league and charity events, Hartman said. But by far the most important ingredient to success is training, preferably paid, on- the-job training that leads to a hire, Frisby and Sullivan said. For example, Al Sturdevant, PCX's director of engineering, was originally an intern. And recently, PCX hired intern Saban Becirovic, 21, of Hartford as a CNC programmer. Taking Flight Aeroparts supplier PCX recruits a growing workforce in Newington PCX Aerostructures CEO Jeffry Frisby stands in front of a state-of-the-art mill turn machine that's helped the company land new aerospace contracts. HBJ PHOTOS | PATRICIA DADDONA

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