How One College is Creating Pathways to Careers in Precision Machining

Northampton Community College

There’s no question that across the country, many manufacturers are facing challenges in filling open positions. Employers and economic development agencies are scrambling to facilitate training programs to provide essential skills to workers who can fill these positions. In the Lehigh Valley, where manufacturing is the second largest employment sector consisting of nearly 15% of private sector employment — five percentage points higher than the statewide number — the necessity of workforce training is even more pronounced.

Addressing Local Needs

Northampton Community College (NCC) is no stranger to local employers in the manufacturing sector and would often hear about the need to create specialized training programs. “We have many employer partners that we’re talking to on a regular basis, and we’ve learned from those folks that finding qualified workers is often a daunting task,” said Marsha Stiles, program manager at NCC. “Machining was identified as a skillset that was needed by many of our local employer partners. There’s a huge demand for machinists.”

Thankfully, one of the most significant advantages of the community college system in Pennsylvania is its ability to adapt to urgent needs in the local economy and develop curricula to address them. That’s why NCC created a summer program in Summer 2022 dedicated to precision machining. The 250-hour program taught safe handling and operation of common machining tools that are often used by entry-level manufacturing workers. The program focused on underserved individuals, and offered a dozen students across ages, genders, ethnicities, and backgrounds — many of whom were already working full-time in other occupations – the opportunity to land reliable, family-sustaining careers in manufacturing for the first time.

A Program Designed for Success

The structure of the program — as well as the high-quality education offered at NCC — enabled the students to learn at an incredibly fast pace. “One of the instructors said that what our program covered in one summer takes almost a year to cover for high school students at a local vocational school,” said Amy Rotzell, Senior Fabrication Lab Assistant at NCC who helped administer the summer program. “The students were so engaged that it was easy for the instructor to teach the material that the students needed to succeed.” By the end of the program, students earned at least three credentials each from the National Institute of Metalworking Skills (NIMS), widely recognized as valuable qualifications for manufacturing processes like machining. One student even earned five certificates through incredibly hard work and dedication.

“The Manufacturing Training-to-Career grant covered the full cost of the program for the students”
– Marsha Stiles, Program Manager at NCC

Near the end of the program, NCC hosted an Employer Day, which brought a dozen local manufacturing employers of all sizes to meet the students and, in some cases, begin the interview process while students were still in class. Those employers included B. Braun Medical, Sharp Packaging, Penn Engineering, RMS Machinery Services, Victaulic, Arch Medical Solutions, and more. “Employers were thrilled to see that our students already have the hands-on training that is so important,” Amy Rotzell said. “Also, we weave employability skills throughout all of our programs, so students learned how to be an effective member of a team and how to problem-solve. Those soft skills are integrated into the program and are really critical to employers.”

According to Marsha Stiles, the goal of the program was to place at least 70 percent of the students in a job or on a path to additional higher-level training by the summer’s end. At the 30-day mark following the program’s completion, 75 percent of the students were locked into a job or more advanced training, and the remaining students were in the middle of lengthy interview processes with employers.

Workforce Training Funding

The summer precision machining program was an incredibly effective program that was made possible through DCED’s Manufacturing PA Training-to-Career Grant. NCC received $50,000 through the program, which is designed to help companies identify and train a skilled workforce for existing or future open positions, as well as engage youth or those with barriers to build awareness of career opportunities in manufacturing.

“The Manufacturing Training-to-Career grant covered the full cost of the program for the students,” said Marsha Stiles. “The fact that these students in eight weeks could come out of this program without having to be concerned about tuition or expenses was a major goal that the grant enabled us to accomplish.”

Manufacturing Training-to-Career grant funds can be used for professional services and consultants, internships, equipment purchases, shop modifications, program development, marketing, domestic travel, and salaries and fringes. It is available to technical schools, trade schools, community colleges, school districts, post-secondary academic institutions, and nonprofits like workforce development boards, manufacturing associations, and economic development organizations in Pennsylvania.

The Manufacuturing Training-to-Career Grant Program is part of the Manufacturing PA initiative created in 2017 to strengthen Pennsylvania manufacturing. By providing funding to organizations like NCC, Pennsylvania workers are receiving the training they need to land in-demand positions, and employers benefit from a larger and higher-quality pool of talent to fill their open positions.

To learn more about the Manufacturing PA Training-to-Career Grant Program, visit the DCED website. Visit our #PAProudBlog where NCC was featured in “Sustaining Pennsylvania’s Manufacturing Labor Force During and After the Pandemic” and check out the grant training offered at NCC. Stay up-to-date on DCED news by following us on X, Facebook, and LinkedIn.