BUILDING BEST PRACTICES

If we can improve the availability of skilled

workers, we can... help the community grow.

- Christopher Conard

BUILDING ON BEST PRACTICE

$10 MILLION GRANT HELPS BRING MANUFACTURING EDUCATION TO RURAL STUDENTS

The president of PMI, a metal fabrication business in Bloomer, said the labor shortage is a significant barrier to growth for manufacturers like himself. “We are being forced to turn down new work due to a lack of available labor resources,” said Christopher Conard. His business isn’t the only one. Knowing his company’s position, and that of others, he was eager to continue PMI’s partnership with Chippewa Valley Technical College and plan to build a training classroom, lab space, and secure equipment to provide a collaborative space to train individuals. Some might have considered it a pie-in-the-sky dream, but with proper planning and a $10 million Workforce Innovation Grant from the Wisconsin Economic Development corporation to address the critical workforce shortage in manufacturing, PMI and a few other manufacturing-type companies are seeing their dreams come true as CVTC welcomes the continued partnerships. Gov. Tony Evers’ announcement of the three-year grant award was like an early Christmas present to the College and its partners on Dec. 14. CVTC’s RESTORE (Restoring Employment through Support, Training, Outreach, Recruitment and Education) program is partnering with Northwood Technical College, Workforce Resource, Inc., Bloomer School District, Osseo-Fairchild School District, St. Croix Central School District in addition to PMI to facilitate career pathways in metal fabrication for underserved populations throughout rural northwestern Wisconsin. “Employers are struggling to hire qualified workers into key metal fabrication careers throughout the manufacturing sector,” said Sunem Beaton-Garcia, CVTC president. “While these

jobs are high-paying and in demand, we need to do what we can to attract people to the field through skilled training and education, which will lead to successful, long-term careers.” Jeff Sullivan, CVTC dean of apprenticeships, engineering, manufacturing and IT, said the idea of working with community partners to provide skilled training to people from rural areas is nothing new, but typically because of lab space and equipment, it had to be done in Eau Claire. The grant money is opening new doors. “We now have the ability to cut down on the barriers of transportation, space, and equipment,” Sullivan said. “We’ll be able to serve employers in rural areas. The grant gives us space and access we haven’t had before to provide training.” In western Wisconsin, 16 companies signed letters of support recognizing that the grant would ultimately help their businesses as well. Since then, several businesses have also offered support. The plans being put in the works now between CVTC and the named partners include new infrastructure, equipment, and space. The College also will develop training pathways and processes to work with K-12 partners for manufacturing academies in these new spaces.

Sullivan said previously CVTC partnered with Phillips-Medisize to offer manufacturing and quality training. When it was offered in Eau Claire, participation was abysmal at two students. When the class was moved to the Menomonie campus to offer it closer to the business and to rural participants, the class size increased to 54. “We’re doing things we know have been WE NOW HAVE THE successful in the past,” Sullivan said. “We’re going to have access to more communities ABILITY TO CUT DOWN and areas that may have taken 45 minutes to an hour for those students to get to our ON THE BARRIERS OF campuses. When we’re done, we’ll be able to bring the training closer to them. TRANSPORTATION, “It’s just taking something and SPACE & EQUIPMENT. expanding on what we do well and trying to do it on a larger scale.” - JEFF SULLIVAN Conard, president of PMI, acknowl edges training centers like the one planned for his business will be an important resource to develop the skilled workforce for years to come. “If we can improve the availability of skilled workers, we can expand businesses, create more jobs, and help the community grow,” Conard said. “More jobs mean more people moving to the community who then support retail shops, restaurants, school district growth, and churches, and the tax base expands to support the community as a whole.”

ST. CROIX CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL, HAMMOND

• Will provide advanced manufacturing technology • Maintenance and systems integration training will be offered

BUILDINGS

⭐ RIVER FALLS ⭐ MENOMONIE PMI, BLOOMER

• A metal fabrication/training facility will be provided • Will offer technology/equipment

BUILDINGS

⭐ CHIPPEWA FALLS

⭐ EAU CLAIRE President Sunem Beaton-Garcia recently visited PMI to discuss solutions to the critical shortage in manufacturing.

CVTC DISTRICT MAP

OSSEO-FAIRCHILD SCHOOL DISTRICT

• Construction of a new training facility/technical center • New technology and equipment will be provided along with training

BUILDINGS

⭐ NEILLSVILLE

Weld Done

Altoona senior weathers adversity, follows passion of welding at CVTC

Vanessa Carr flipped through the pages of her welding workbook while standing in an empty classroom at Chippewa Valley Technical College. The 17-year-old isn’t even out of high school yet, but she’s halfway through her first semester of welding at the college. Carr is taking advantage of CVTC’s high school academies – a series of courses designed to meet the need of high school students who wish to explore a program or industry. In Carr’s case, she wants to finish her first semester of the welding program, graduate from high school, and then continue at CVTC to get her associate degree in welding fabrication. Carr has the drive and ambition to get her college degree as quickly as possible to land her dream job. “All things are difficult before they are easy.” That fortune from a cookie is typed on a small, rectangular piece of paper placed between Carr’s cell phone and its transparent protector. It’s likely not so much a fortune as a reminder for Carr.

She hasn’t had it easy. In her young life, she’s moved more times than can be counted on one hand. Her home life hasn’t been the best.

“I did everything I could to keep myself out of the house,” she said. “I feel like I have to be doing something all the time.”

She acknowledged that she could have busied herself with drugs, alcohol, or other non-constructive things. But in not so many words, Carr divulged that’s not her style. Instead, she dove into creating. Jen Robertson, Altoona High School Alternative Learning Center Program coordinator and teacher, was impressed with Carr’s determination from the get-go. Robertson met Carr three years ago. “Vanessa (Carr) is highly motivated and driven to succeed in her education, which just happens to be welding,” Robertson said. “She maintains good grades while working seven days a week at two different jobs. The welding academy provides her with a great opportunity to jumpstart her schooling.” Robertson’s son went through the welding program at CVTC several years ago. When Carr met Robertson and learned of Carr’s passion for welding, Robertson knew how to foster additional learning. “(Carr) loves learning and welding, so that is a big part of what drives her,” Robertson said. “She also sees this as a way out of her present circumstances and into the life she envisions for her future. ”

ALL THINGS ARE DIFFICULT BEFORE THEY ARE EASY.

CARR HAS BEEN THROUGH A LOT IN HER YOUNG LIFE, BUT HER SELF-DRIVE AND MOTIVATION SPURS HER TO LEARN THE SKILL OF WELDING FOR HER FUTURE.

SETTING UP HER FUTURE

Like taking a college course is a first for Carr, teaching a college course to high school students is a first for CVTC welding instructor Kevin Taylor. But not much is different in his classroom. “I don’t run it any differently,” Taylor said. “The class has 10 or 11 college-age students and six or seven academy students. “To be honest, it’s not like I even think of my class as having high school students in it. They fit right in, and I run it like a regular class.”

CARR HAS BEEN THROUGH A LOT IN HER YOUNG LIFE, BUT HER SELF-DRIVE AND MOTIVATION SPURS HER TO LEARN THE SKILL OF WELDING FOR HER FUTURE.

When Carr, or any high school academy student, passes the semester-long class, they receive college credits. But it’s not a cakewalk, Taylor said. “You need a practical and mechanical mindset,” he said. “You need to be able to do math quickly – to convert decimals to fractions.”

Carr has those mindsets, said Cody Curry, Altoona High School alternative teacher. Curry began working with Carr last school year in the Alternative Program. “Vanessa (Carr) is not only a hard-working student, but she is certain and confident in her desire to become a welder and gain financial security,” Curry said. “I am very proud of Vanessa. The amount of adversity she has had to navigate and overcome is incredible.”

Curry has helped guide Carr through courses that will help her in the future, but Carr has given back to Curry as well, even if she doesn’t realize it.

“Vanessa (Carr) is one student whom I not only brag about often, but one who makes me determined to continue to do the work I do each day,” Curry said. “I would firmly say that students like Vanessa (Carr) are the model students in high school today. Although some of her accolades are not translated to paper or noticed by all, her achievements as a human are innumerable.” Sunem Beaton-Garcia walked into the new welding fabrication lab at Chippewa Valley Technical College wearing a welding jacket and helmet. Beaton-Garcia isn’t a welder. She’s the president of CVTC. But that didn’t deter her from volunteering to laser cut the metal ribbon during the Manufacturing Education Center’s event to celebrate the new automated fabrication lab addition in October.

The event was a way for the College to thank donors and taxpayers who voted to approve a referendum that led to the update in facilities and technology. Second year CVTC welding students Sam Thurmes, Logan Kilness and Andrew Hartman attended the event and said they’re lucky to be at CVTC during this time, because no other college they know of has this kind of technology. “It’s crazy,” said Hartman, 19, of Eau Claire. “This is a state-of-the-art facility. You aren’t going to go to any other college and find this kind of equipment. “We’re presented with this super awesome opportunity that we couldn’t get anywhere else.” Thurmes and Kilness, both who graduated high school in Ellsworth, said they’re not intimidated by the new equipment as much as excited. “It’s exciting knowing I’ll be able to run these robot cells by the end of the semester,” Kilness said.

NEW WORKSPACE, NEW TECHNOLOGY