With the assistance of the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology, Inc. (CCAT), eight students from RHAM High School in Hebron and eleven local manufacturers convened yesterday during a Youth Manufacturing Pipeline Job Match.
RHAM High School has implemented a Youth Manufacturing Pipeline Initiative Program (YMPI) at the high school with efforts from the Eastern Workforce Investment Board, Three Rivers Community College, and The Department of Labor. The program provides students with skills aligned to the hiring needs of employers in the manufacturing industry and is modeled after the highly successful and nationally recognized adult Manufacturing Pipeline program which has placed more than 1,000 people in jobs over the past two years. The YMPI curriculum is designed by a collaboration of industry and college affiliates and is aimed to get the students access to a direct path from training to the workforce upon completion, completed and approved pre-apprenticeship program hours by the Department of Labor, a certificate of completion from the youth manufacturing pipeline initiative, and the skills to be trained individuals ready for employment in the manufacturing industry.
CCAT helped form partnerships with the school and local manufacturing facilities to create opportunities to support the students in this program and welcomed them with opening remarks from Bruce Karasik before they commenced their speed interviews. During this job match event, students had 5-8 minutes with each employer to network, converse, and discuss potential employment opportunities. Employers present included Alpha Q, ACMT Inc., Leggett & Platt, Highway Safety Corp, InCord, Ltd., Horst Engineering, Sound Manufacturing, TRUMPF, Wepco Plastics, Schneider Electric Motion USA, and Flex LTD.
Samantha Schadtle, RHAM High School Career and Technical Education Department Coordinator and Manager of the YMPI program at RHAM High School, hopes to see employment opportunities made available to all eight students from this event.
At the end of the event, Todd Berch of the Department of Labor presented each student with a certificate of completion from the program, an industry recognized credential that acknowledges their approved pre-apprenticeship program hours and stated that the program and the students are “what success looks like in manufacturing in the state of Connecticut.”
