Graduates of a pilot program designed to teach unemployed Mainers the skills manufacturers are looking for pose for a group photo.
LEWISTON, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- With the economy still sluggish and plenty of people searching for work, it may come as a surprise that many manufacturers are having a hard time finding workers with the skills to fill their job openings.
"Business is very good. It has picked-up quite a bit in the past several months, and we are desperately looking for skilled workers to come in and work for us here," stated John Powell, vice president and general manager of WahlcoMetroflex, a company that manufactures equipment for industrial power producers located in Lewiston.
"People that have skills are always highly sought after and we are looking for as many people as we can find," added Powell. "It has been a very arduous and difficult process to find those types of workers. We'll get maybe one out of ten that will come in and apply for work that have those skills."
To help the company fill those positions, the Maine Department of Labor has teamed with the Maine Manufacturing Extension Partnership and WahlcoMetroflex to try a program which takes people who are not employed, screens them based on work and life experiences, and trains them in an intensive, hands-on mobile classroom to tailor their skills for the jobs the company needs filled.
"The customized curriculum, the mobile training units, and the on the job training are features of the program that ensure that both employees and employers get what they need from this partnership," explained John Butera, a senior economic advisor for Governor Paul LePage.
Nine students were chosen for the pilot program and were put through a two week training program designed to develop their skill set and provide them with the experience and knowledge needed to fill vacancies at WahlcoMetroflex.
The students worked forty and fifty hour weeks learning welding, math and mapping skills and were hired by the company upon completion of the program. Each graduate will start work at the company early next year, and receive health, dental and retirement benefits, as well as an annual starting salary of about $35,000.
"Being unemployed is tough. You try to do what you can for your family," stated Bob Libby, who was employed as a seasonal worker, but had not had a job in the past couple of months. Now Libby has the opportunity and skills to start a new career, one he was not qualified for just two weeks ago.
"It's amazing," he said. "It is probably the best thing that could have happened to me."
The Mobile Outreach Skills Training program is administered by Time Wise Management Systems, and was paid for by both public and private funds. The state is already looking to find more funding and manufacturers to conduct similar programs across the state.
"We've got to match the requirements of the business with the skill set," said Maine Department of Labor Commissioner Robert Winglass. "There is no point in creating someone who is a skilled stenographer when you don't need stenographers."
"At a time of high unemployment, many Maine manufacturers find their ability to grow is limited by a shortage of skilled workers," stated Bruce Pulkkinen, chairman of the Maine Manufacturing Extension Partnership board of directors.
Pulkkinen says 97% of students who enroll in the job training programs graduate, 95% of them get jobs and the retention rate is 91% after six months - all numbers which far exceed traditional job training programs.
For Bob Libby and the other graduates, it is an opportunity to change career paths and stabilize their income.
"It is probably the best Christmas present I could have got," said Libby.
NEWS CENTER