Vacant building space in CVTC’s Transportation Center on its West Campus would undergo transformation into a training center in new heating, ventilation and cooling systems.

The reduction will allow property taxes for the college to remain flat because of a projected 1 percent drop in equalized value of the district.

The budget, which takes effect July 1, for the technical college is $28.8 million and reflects financial challenges that are an issue across the county, said Nelson Dahl, vice president of finance, in the release.

“We once again trimmed operational costs and reduced positions in a manner that sustains the necessary environment for student success,” he said.

The budget allows the college to invest in a few areas that benefit students, enrich communities, and enhance local business and industry.  These operational and capital investments include additional high-demand course sections, relocation to a new Stevens Point Campus, a new Gerontology program, a fire training facility in Wisconsin Rapids, and a stainless steel welding lab in Marshfield.

The college’s mill rate is projected to remain at $1.74 per $1000 of equalized valuation. MSTC’s budget calls for a $170,591 reduction in property taxes in 2013-14.

 “The proposed budget’s real dollar impact on area taxpayers is expected to be $173.76 on a $100,000 home, a slight increase of just 30 cents,” Dahl said.

Dahl added that MSTC still poses a considerably lower impact than other taxing authorities because the college serves a broad tax base of 97 municipalities in all or parts of Adams, Clark, Jackson, Juneau, Marathon, Portage, Waushara and Wood Counties.

 He also noted that the college has adopted three key results—student success, organizational effectiveness, and employee engagement—that are designed to set clear direction for the college.  The budget process also aligns with the Board of Director’s strategic directions, administration goals, and college unit objectives.

“The college’s new key results help establish our work priorities and were consequently useful in shaping the 2013-14 operational budget,” Dahl said.

The amount levied for the upcoming academic year will total $20,884,373. The new budget also reflects a slight reduction in staffing with a decrease of 1.4 full time positions. Since 2010-11, the college has reduced staffing by the equivalent of 22.2 full-time positions while at the same time making advances in several key academic areas, said Nicolet College President Elizabeth Burmaster.

“Nicolet has been especially competitive in securing new private, federal and state grant funding which has helped fund new initiatives at a time of levy freezes and state general aid reductions,” Burmaster said.

The most significant of these were grants totaling more than $1.3 million to boost manufacturing training. Nicolet is using this money to expand its welding program by 30 percent and also create a series of academic credentials in manufacturing that culminates in the new, two-year industrial mechanical technician associate degree, Burmaster reported.

“Even in these continued tight economic times, the college has been able to find ways to expand key academic programs,” she said. “The advanced training these graduates bring to the workplace will contribute to the overall economic development of the region.”

She also noted that the college’s occupational/technical programs posted an average job placement rate of 90 percent in 2012-13.

To receive a grant made possible by the money raised through the golf outing is much harder.

Yet this year, the Basic Needs Giving Partnership is giving away more money than in any previous year.

Nearly $1.8 million in multi-year grants were announced today by the Basic Needs Giving Partnership, which is funded through the money raised by the U.S. Venture Open and the JJ Keller Foundation.

“Whatever people put in, we match that amount. Thereby we can double the impact of the grants in the community,” says Mary Harp-Jirschele, executive director of the JJ Keller Foundation.

It’s a partnership that rewards other partnerships for addressing the root causes of poverty in Northeast Wisconsin.

“We talk a lot about collaboration and that’s what we’re really looking for organizations to do, to collaborate with one another in new and innovative ways,” says Sarah Schmidt, Director of the US Venture Open.

Literacy Green Bay’s joint effort with the YWCA and NWTC fit the bill.  Their program is called “Children First Family Literacy”.

“It’s a program where we help adults get their GED so they’re working with instructors to prepare for that and while they are doing that, their preschool children are in an early learning childhood environment getting ready for school,” says Kathy Cornell of Literacy Green Bay.

They are one of 21 new multi-year grant recipients this year.

“This is huge!  I think for most non-profits you write a lot of grants and you may get funding for a year but to know that we have funding for 3 years is a big deal,” says Cornell.

Made possible by the U.S. Venture Open golf outing, this year’s event is in August and features Donald Driver as the special guest.

“We’re just excited to partner with somebody who really cares so deeply about the same things we do.  His passion is really literacy and basic needs issues,” says Schmidt.

They are the newest faces of the future of emergency dispatch. Pending results of a national exam, Monday ten people are becoming certified as emergency dispatchers through a new class at NWTC, teaching them what it’s like on the other end of a 911 call.

“You have no idea what they all have going on their plates as they’re taking that call, plus trying to get the emergency, whether it’s the cops, the ambulances out to you, all the pressure that’s on their shoulders. It really gives you an understanding,” says Tonia Geibel, a student of the dispatcher class and current EMS worker in Door County.

As Action 2 News has reported over the last several months, NWTC partnered with Kewaunee and Brown Counties to create this introduction to dispatching class, partly in response to staffing problems in Brown County’s Communication Center.

The class is designed to reduce the amount of on-the-job training needed and eliminate the number of people who take a dispatching job, then quit suddenly when they realize it’s not for them.

“Any amount of time is very helpful for us, because we do have turnover. That’s part of the industry. We’re trying to reduce it as much as possible, but by having trained people, qualified people coming into the program and being able to reduce that, it takes less time for us to get people on the floor,” says Brown County Public Safety Communications Director Cullen Peltier.

“Out of the class of 10, we have about eight that have expressed an interest to apply as dispatchers,” says NWTC Criminal Justice Instructor John Flannery, who taught the dispatcher class.

While those in the class would still need training in the specific agency they work, depending on success, this class may soon become a requirement to even apply in some agencies.

“That’s in the consideration phase at this point. It’s definitely preferred to have class under their belt before they come to us, because what it does for us is reduce training time,” says Peltier.

This first class was a sort of pilot to see if the program would even work, but already there’s interest for another class, likely to start in September.

“They seemed to really enjoy it and got a real good taste of what dispatching is all about,” says Flannery.

“Now I understand when they get that call, everything they have to go through before I even get that page to go out,” says Geibel.

What’s being done to address this?

Some companies have found success when the IT and HR departments work together on a recruitment strategy that has close ties to colleges where IBM i skills are part of the computer science curriculum. They are on advisory boards that help determine the classroom subjects. It’s an effective strategy, but it’s not one in widespread use.

Replicating success is not difficult when you have a good template. That’s the thinking of Jim Buck, who is in the process of applying for a grant to do just that. Buck, who heads up one of the most successful IBM i educational tracks at the collegiate level for Gateway Technical College in Wisconsin, hopes the Department of Labor grant will allow Gateway to begin a program to train instructors at other colleges and universities. Among his priorities is helping other institutions set up advisory councils with IBM i shops.

At Gateway, Buck has an advisory council with 12 members representing IBM i shops. They help establish the curriculum and specific skills they view as important for the entry level jobs they hope to be filling now and in the years ahead. It’s the connection and collaboration between companies that need to replenish their workforces and the colleges that can best provide the skilled people that is critically (and I don’t use that word lightly) important.

Buck describes this as “industry-driven training” and he is emphasizing the role of IBM i shops in the preparation of training and the job placement support following the completion of training. The curriculum roadmap consists of three core classes: an introduction to programming, enterprise system concepts, and DB2 programming. The colleges and their advisory boards can select educational tracks to best fit business requirements and employment opportunities.

Gateway is relying on a consortium of community colleges across the U.S. (the 125-member National Coalition of Advanced Technology Centers), as well as schools that participate in the IBM Academic Initiative. The initial group of colleges that are expected to prove the program is viable includes: Muskegon Community College in Michigan, Central Piedmont Community College in North Carolina, the Community College of Baltimore County in Maryland, Metropolitan Community College in Nebraska, and Moraine Valley Community College in Illinois. Each of these schools will be developing partnerships with IBM i-based companies, including software vendors and IBM business partners.

The targeted student population includes college students as well as dislocated workers, the unemployed, veterans, and other adults. Those who complete the training will earn industry-recognized certifications, which will be spearheaded by COMMON.

There are a lot of companies in the IBM i community who could help themselves, help the IBM i community, and help their local communities by lending a hand to this. If your organization isn’t involved in an advisory council relationship with a tech school, the question needs to be asked, “Why not?” Is it because there is no plan for investment in IT personnel for the future? Is it because there’s no investment in IT infrastructure? For all the companies who say they can’t find people with the right skills, are there companies that believe in taking an active role to change that outcome?

“If this consortium of schools gets this grant–and they are asking for up to $25 million to build these centers of excellence–it will be the biggest step forward in teaching Power skills in the 17-year history of the Academic Initiative. This is an enormous step,” says Pete Glass, program manager of the Power Systems Academic Initiative. “But we need to have names to give the grant application strength.”

Companies that are interested in getting involved with this project can take the first step by completing a brief survey that, when compiled, will identify the severity of the skills gaps and rank their importance. Participation in the survey will result in follow up from the project coordinators who can help determine ways in which your company can benefit from this collaboration and how an effective skills pipeline can be hooked into your company.

It was part of a 40-hour tactical emergency medical support course led by Waukesha County Technical College instructors.

Sunday’s drills included a mass casualty shooting and a downed officer.

“In a mass casualty situation there’s a triage situation that has to happen,” said Jim Hillcoat a La Crosse firefighter and paramedic. He’s taking part in the class.

“There was a danger in the scenario we just did that wasn’t mitigated yet – or we weren’t sure it was mitigated. So, that needed to be dealt with and you have people who need help medically that have traumatic injuries,” Hillcoat said.

The course teaches first responders how to utilize military and emergency medicine under the threat of gunfire, for example, the shootings at the Sikh Temple in Oak Creek, Wis., and the Azana Spa in Brookfield, Wis.

Tactical EMS Instructor Chad Stiles responded to the Azana Spa shooting.

“You never think it’s gonna happen in our community but when it does, we need to really be prepared to give the best response,” Stiles said.

That’s why he’s training law enforcement and EMS to work together in dangerous situations.

“Usually they operate side-by-side, but they’re working independently of each other,” Stiles said. “This class kind of brings them together like a marriage, almost, and teaches them each others objectives.”

The Tactical EMS class is funded by the Wisconsin Office of Justice Assistance and Wisconsin Hospital Emergency Preparedness.

Upon completing the course, EMS responders can submit their training record to the state and get a tactical EMS endorsement with their license, Stiles said.

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Studies have shown that there is a relationship between oral health and improved outcomes for diabetes and pregnancy and to improved nutrition. There is a connection between oral health and other diseases as well. There can even be an impact on employability. Thus, oral health has an important role in achieving the 20/20 vision.

However, accessing preventive or restorative dental services can be a challenge for low income or Medicaid recipients. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services reports that just over 20 percent of Brown County Medicaid members received a dental service in 2008, down from 24 percent in 2004.

There are many reasons for this. Medicaid reimburses dentists roughly 30 percent or less for Medicaid recipients’ services. Issues with transportation or child care can lead to a higher-than-average no-show rate for these patients, making it difficult for dental offices to manage schedules and remain efficient.

Dental care for the low income and uninsured is fragmented. Finding services for adults can be especially challenging. There are services for veterans, the developmentally disabled and AIDS patients, but many private providers find it financially untenable to accept Medicaid patients.

To begin to solve this problem, Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in 2008 began a small dental clinic, using grant funding from U.S. Oil and the Brown Door Kewaunee Dental Society. Planners quickly learned that the need was far greater than anyone had anticipated. They also learned that logistically, NWTC was a good fit for a clinic operation, as dental hygiene and dental assistant students were able to provide needed services while gaining valuable experience.

Administering the program was better left to a community partner, so NEW Community Clinic and NWTC developed a collaboration whereby NEW clinic became the administrator. It was also clear that without charitable support, it would not be financially feasible to provide services for the same reasons private providers were challenged — reimbursement of less than 30 percent of charges made it impossible to be self-supporting. The college and the clinic also saw that the long-term need was to provide a six-chair dental clinic.

In 2012, a community health needs assessment was conducted by the Brown County and De Pere health departments, Bellin Hospital, St. Mary’s Hospital Medical Center and St. Vincent Hospital. Oral health was identified as one of the top three community health issues, and St Mary’s/St Vincent was asked to lead a community action group. This provided a forum for NWTC, NEW Clinic and St. Mary’s/St. Vincent to discuss adult restorative services and to see if together, they could provide a six-chair clinic.

As a result of these discussions, St. Mary’s and St. Vincent provided the dollars to purchase equipment to outfit the clinic in space donated by NWTC. The equipment was installed in February. NEW Community Clinic was named a Federally Qualified Health Center during 2012, enabling it to be reimbursed at cost for seeing Medicaid patients.

Thus, a dental clinic for Medicaid and uninsured patients opened this spring with a dentist on staff. Knowing that the need can far exceed the resources available, the clinic’s focus will be on addressing acute dental pain, and secondarily on treating diabetics and pregnant women because of the connection to improved health status.

Now, as many as 6,000 patients will be able to have dental visits over the course of a year, providing them with a community resource, where before hospital emergency departments were one of their only options.

How to help

Tax-deductible donations to support the operation of the dental clinic can be sent to the NEW Community Clinic at 633 Bodart St., Green Bay.

“It’s not just a man’s world anymore, there’s so many more opportunities, said Sheryl Nehls, instructor in dairy herd management at Lakeshore Technical College. “It’s not as much physical anymore, not that they can’t do that.”

LTC offers two programs in the field of agriculture — dairy herd management and, farm business and production management. Typically, the later program attracts established farm owners and operators, according to Nehls.

Each year, roughly a third of the class is made up of females, Nehls said. Organizations such as FFA have opened the doors for women, she said.

“Women are becoming that essential part of (the industry) as well,” said Terrilynn Hastreiter, LTC farm business and dairy herd management instructor. “They’re entering the industry strong. I think a lot of them are going to go back to that family farm and work with mom and dad, or at least dad, or whoever owns it at the time.”

What draws them in varies, but Nehls said there is one thing in particular that usually catches female students.

“By in large, they like working with cattle and our program focuses on that,” she noted.

Some of her female students have gone on to work with fresh cows, meaning those that have recently given birth to a calf.

“That’s the maternal aspect of the women maybe that appeals to them. There are so many niches to specialize in,” Nehls added.

On the farm

To get hands-on experience, students involved in the dairy herd management program, participate in going to site farms on Wednesdays during their last semester. At farms, like Soaring Eagle Dairy in Newton, students gain one-on-one knowledge from the owner or a herds manager and learn new skills, along with seeing firsthand how the farm utilizes technology. Last year, 12 farms participated and up to 18 students are able to participate at a time. Students rotate through the farms and spend a minimum of fours a week at each.

“We don’t have a farm facility on campus so we use the farms in the area,” Nehls explained., adding that LTC may be the only college nationwide to utilize site farms.

“I went to Madison for four years and sat in a classroom to learn about cows,” she joked.

In addition to the site farms, students take part in an internship program. The program is seven days a week for nine months and roughly 21 hours a week. That’s in addition to 30 hours of classroom time, including farm tours twice a week for dairy lab, and studying.

“It gives them a taste of the industry and what it’s really like for the time committment,” Nehls said.

Lessons learned through opportunities like the site farms and internships are invaluable.

Know your neighbor

“Networking is going to be the No. 1,” Hastreiter said. “By getting out there and talking to individuals they’re going to learn what not to do and to do.”

It may also lead to new opportunities.

“Females are stepping up and taking those manager roles,” Hastreiter said. “Twenty years ago, you probably wouldn’t have seen that. I think it’s phenomenal. Women have proven that they can go through the program and they do succeed.”

“Every student is so different and that’s what makes the industry so interesting is because there are so many viewpoints,” Hastreiter said.

The creation of new forms of technology also have aided in streamlining certain aspects of farming.

“We’ve made the job so that it doesn’t have to encompass their whole life,” Nehls said. “I think a lot of women have seen that you can still have time to raise a family. … The technology really was the key to that.”

Beyond the classroom

Staying on top of the changes is important to the LTC instructors.

“It’s something we need to do as instructors to keep up with our teaching,” Hastreiter said. “It’s not just going back to the farm anymore, it’s specializing.”

The young people entering the workforce is about the same, Hastreiter said, but the opportunities have increased as technology has opened more doors, including genomic testing. Service technicians who understand not only the equipment, but how it functions on the farm are in demand as well.

“We’re taking that computer savvy individual and mixing it with the dairy savvy, “ Hastrieter said. “Technology is going to be implemented in every farm of every size eventually. … We learn from each other. Hearing ideas gets my brain going. It’s really learning from others.”

“The way we do things is just so drastically different,” said Nehls who grew up on a farm in Dodge County with holsteins, jerseys and Swiss. “We now design things for cows, not people.”

When not teaching in the summers, Nehls enjoys traveling to other farms to learn things she can bring back to the classroom. Four years ago, she visited an LTC graduate who was employed at a dairy farm with 4,000 cows in New Mexico to see how heat stress is handled in that area.

“No matter where you go, you can learn and tie that back into the industry,” she said.

“It’s not just a lifestyle, it’s a career,” Nehls added. It was her mother who urged her to check out an open position at LTC and she’s now been teaching for 32 years.

“I originally had my heart set on becoming a dairy agent … I’m fortunate that I can show them (female students) as a role model that there are no barriers.”

How many projects has the program done since its founding? The program has been around for over 30 years, working on a variety of different projects. We have been building the small modular homes here for seven years.

What is the role of students in the construction?
We had about 22 students this year, and they all worked on the house. They did almost everything: framed it up, installed the roofing, siding, flooring, drywall, cabinetry, windows and doors, trim, etc.

What is different about this year’s building?
We’ve changed the design to be more contemporary. This helped in many ways. Primarily, it simplified the design and construction, making the details the students needed to accomplish simpler, and at a more basic level. Our previous design was more traditional looking with a steep roof and a loft, but because of all the angles involved, it made for many trickier details that were not really beginning level.

How much say do the owners have in the construction?
Quite a bit. We prefer the clients be involved at the planning stages, and get quite a bit of input in the layout and design. We have some restrictions that primarily revolve around being able to transport it when we’re done—so size and shape—and we also try to keep the details simple, so no complicated crown details or things like that. Otherwise, we’re only limited by design imagination. We have worked with a couple of architects who are on board with what we are doing, and are able to produce drawings for us to work from.

How does the program work to incorporate “green” options? What about this house is efficient?
Everything.

Last year’s house had a solar Photovoltaic system that the electrical apprentices here installed, and we are close to getting a Net Zero Home, which means, with the right balance of insulation, energy efficiency and solar PV, your house can produce as much energy as it uses.

We are really trying to look down the road at what our students will need to know and then we tailor our building details to reflect the coming trends. There are many college construction programs that are out building cookie cutter vinyl clad boxes without any innovation, and we see that as a huge opportunity lost on many levels.

We are trying to push the envelope on affordable, sustainable building. For instance, we use advanced framing details which create simplified load paths and create more insulation space. We build walls that have an insulation level of R30+ and we use Structural Insulating Panels (SIPs) for the roof, which are a core of solid foam insulation with plywood skins, which themselves have an insulation level of R40+. We use reclaimed wood flooring and the trim on this latest one all came from the ReStore.

I know the outside of the home has some special siding. Could you explain it more?
We install something called Smart Siding, which is a composite wood siding over a rain screen. Smart Side looks like wood siding at half of the cost and maintenance. For the rain screen, we use spacers behind the siding that create an airspace. This doubles the life of your siding and makes the paint job last twice as long as well, since the siding can dry out from all sides. It’s a direction the industry is moving toward. In old houses, the wall cavities were fairly leaky air wise, and siding could dry to the inside as well as out. With homes being built much tighter now—which is a very good thing—it was found that siding finishes weren’t lasting as long because it could no longer dry from the backside.

Tell me more about how the home is suited for “aging in place.” What does that mean for the owner?
Wider hallways, single level and wider doors into rooms allow for wheelchair and walker use. Keeping most everything on one level is also huge. If we were installing this home to be consistent with that idea, the exterior walkways would gently slope right to the door threshold—no stairs.

What design choices were made to help maximize space in the smaller layout?
The clients are going to use Ikea cabinets for storage in the bigger bedroom to separate it into two spaces for their kids, which saves space. The bathroom is just big enough to be accessible by a wheelchair, and we used a shower instead of a tub. We also combined the kitchen and dining areas.

What part of the home was the most challenging for students? What is their favorite part of it?
The students liked framing it and setting the beams and SIP panels. Drywall install is always challenging for some students, and proper window and door setting can be complicated as well. Some loved installing the flooring; some hated it. Some loved installing the siding; some hated it. The students who are more particular seemed to enjoy this finish details more, and the students who are less particular seemed to enjoy the framing and siding more.

How can someone purchase a project constructed by the program?
Contact me: stephany@madisoncollege.edu.

Is there anything else the public should know?
We are one of the best kept secrets of Madison College. Our program not only teaches all the basics of becoming a good beginning craftsperson, we are also out on the cutting edge of construction, and hope to start appealing to a wider audience due to the innovative things we are doing.

The innovation began about eight years ago, when Allie Berenyi was hired to be the new program director and teacher, and she started the program moving more in this direction. It really is incumbent on us to be in front, and training for the future, and also to be partnered with our industry and using us as their sounding board for new ideas. The public can come by and see how SIP panels work and decide to start using them, for instance.

During her first visit to the La Crosse tech college as a United States senator, Baldwin said she was also reaching out to similar institutions to learn about their partnerships with local businesses, and how those collaborations can spur the economy.

“At this point in our economic recovery, that is just one of the keys,” Baldwin said.

The La Crosse area showed the best yearly job increases in 2012 since the recession, including growth in the health care and leisure industries, according to the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages.

Nearly 93 percent of Western’s 2010-11 school year graduates were able to find jobs, including 85 percent who found jobs in Wisconsin, according to a survey by the college.

Western officials tailor the school’s offerings to what local employers need, but the college also provides training programs for local businesses.

Shelley Ellingson, training coordinator for Northern Engraving, toured campus with Baldwin.

Her company used state grant funding to bring in Western and train staff. Western’s training programs helped improve the relationship between management and workers, and increased efficiency, Ellingson said.

“I think it’s helped our supervisors apply some soft skills when working with employers on the floor,” Ellingson said.

Baldwin mentioned her work on the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee and credited tech colleges for being an alternative option for high school graduates who don’t have the time or money for a four-year university degree.

“Some are going to try to fit into a career as soon as possible,” Baldwin said.

Western’s successful $80 million referendum last year will help the college to update and expand school buildings and crank out more students. New spaces also mean improved training for a future workforce, Western President Lee Rasch said.

“It’s just going to be better for students,” Rasch said.

Baldwin toured Western’s facilities, including the current heating and ventilation training center, which will eventually move to the new $32.6 million applied technology center.

Baldwin called Western a school on the “eve of transformation,” after seeing a computer image rendering of the new technology center. Instead of dim, cramped corners of the old HVAC space, the images showed a building filled with windows and natural light.

“Look at how different that is from what we walked through,” Baldwin said, evoking laughs from a small audience of Western officials and representatives from local businesses. “This is really exciting for me.”

Baldwin also lamented Congress’ inability to find timely solution to a looming rate hike in federal student loans. Rates on Stafford loans might double, from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent unless lawmakers can agree on a fix.

Lawmakers took until the 11th hour crafting a bipartisan solution to the same problem last year, and that could be the case again this year, Baldwin said.

Meanwhile, college students are “struggling with enormous debts,” Baldwin said. “It’s such a critical issue.”

From partnerships between technical colleges, K-12 education and business groups to efforts by private firms to groom employees for future leadership roles, numerous efforts are underway to keep workers’ skills current and ensure a steady stream of ready-to-employ people are available tomorrow.

Miller Electric Mfg. Co. in Appleton and its parent, Illinois Tool Works, have been internally discussing workforce needs for years but stepped up efforts the past two years, said Craig Treichel, group human resources manager for Miller.

“It wasn’t something that was just brought up in a memo one day and we started looking at it,” Treichel said.

It involved a cultural change within the company, which makes welding equipment, to get employees and leadership to begin thinking about the future, he said.

One area Miller has focused on is leadership development. Current employees, who are seen by management with leadership potential, are provided opportunities to work for different parts of the business and in different jobs at different locations.

The idea is to give those people exposure to as many aspects of the business as possible to give them an understanding of the entire operation, Treichel said.

“We’re trying to develop a well-thought-out plan to expose our people to different things,” he said. “Mobility also is an important quality as we become more global as a company.”

Grasroots development

The nation is getting older and so are its workers.

The Census Bureau said in 2006 that 14.5 percent of the nation’s labor force consisted of people 65 and older. The bureau projected at that time the number could reach 19.7 percent by 2014.

The Government Accountability Office projects that by 2015, about one-fifth of the nation’s workforce would be made up of people 55 and older.

Higher costs for healthcare, longer life spans and lack of retirement savings are some of reasons cited by the government why people are working longer.

But eventually people do stop working and in some instances take decades of industry knowledge with them.

At Kiel-based Amerequip Corp., a maker of custom equipment for the lawn, landscape, agricultural and construction industries, the company has established partnerships with Fox Valley high schools and regional technical colleges to develop training programs to keep its workers up to date and to introduce teens to manufacturing.

Mike VanderZanden, CEO at Amerequip, said its boot camp, which partners with Moraine Park Technical College in Fond du Lac, is a 16-week program. It’s a combination of classroom work and on site training, which gives students real-world experience and provides opportunities for employees to share their knowledge.

“(The students) are getting paid and getting credits at the same time,” he said. “They’re also getting real experience in a profession they want to get into.”

Partnerships between business and educators are essential to ensure students are learning skills that meet employers’ needs, said David Eckmann, economic development director for the Marathon County Economic Development Corp.

He pointed to Northcentral Technical College in Wausau’s centers for excellence, which addresses workforce issues in advanced manufacturing, healthcare, agriculture and wood technology.

“The centers do more to train the incumbent workforce to keep their skills current,” Eckmann said.

Another Marathon County initiative, “The Heavy Metal Bus Tour,” targets high school students who may be interested in manufacturing careers.

It’s not just a field trip for students to visit businesses, Eckmann said.

“For the companies who participate, they spend time with the students, explain to them the skills needed for specific jobs and what the potential salary could be,” he said. “It gives manufacturers the opportunity to show students what they are about.”

The program has had participants from 10 school districts in the Marathon County area since it launched about two years ago, Eckmann said.

Across the board needs

Chris Matheny, vice president for instructional services at Fox Valley Technical College in Grand Chute, said industries including health care and advanced manufacturing, are in a constant cycle of shortages and hiring booms.

About five years ago more conversation emerged about need for skilled workers and challenges to fill available positions, Matheny said.

“Even during the recession, students from some of our programs still were seeing high rates of placement (after graduation) in the 80 to 90 percent range,” Matheny said.

On FVTC’s website, www.fvtc.edu/fall2013, the college details program openings for its upcoming fall and spring terms, which have strong employment outlook. In the college’s latest annual graduate employment research report, it shows 89 percent of its graduates find jobs within six months of graduating.

Some of FVTCs high placement programs include automotive and diesel technology, electrical technology, engineering electronics design and manufacturing, truck driving and emergency medical technician.

Matheny said programs offered at the college are based on input from advisory panels, which include business and community leaders. These relationships are important to keep curriculums current and ensure what students are learning meets employers needs, he said.

“Employers come to us say they need skilled workers and students come to us saying they want to know where the jobs are so they can get to work quickly after they graduate,” he said. “It’s been a good way for us to connect (our graduates) with high-demand careers.”

He saw the lights brighten as the boy applied the brakes, then return to normal brightness, still visible 200 feet away.

Grzegorek knew then that the product he and his fellow team members from the Chippewa Valley Technical College chapter of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers developed was a good one.

“It’s about safety for the kids. This might save a life,” Grzegorek said of the bicycle brake lights the team created.

Grzegorek isn’t the only one who likes the product.

“We had a team of 12 engineers looking at this and they all thought it was a great idea,” he said.

That judging team awarded the CVTC team second place in the 2013 SME Student Design Manufacturing Competition at the SME International Conference in Baltimore, Md., earlier this month.

The product, called the Solar Brake Assembly, gives a bicycle rear taillights and brake lights that work like those on a car or motorcycle. The lights are powered by two AA rechargeable batteries that are automatically charged by a solar panel mounted on the rear of the bicycle. LED lights ensure plenty of brightness with little power used. A mere four hours of daylight fully recharges the batteries.

Engineers at the conference said the solar brake assembly is certainly marketable, perhaps patentable. Where the product goes from here is uncertain. For now, team members, which include electromechanical engineering students Grzegorek, Adam Clark, Benjamin Paffel and Jon Keeley, and manufacturing engineering student Scott Steenerson, are thrilled to have done so well.

“I told the guys, even if we didn’t place, we’re still winners, no matter what,” Grzegorek said.

The team finished second to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, but ahead of PEC University of Technology in Chandigarh, India; Wichita State University in Kansas, and the University of Colorado. CVTC was the only two-year school in the competition.

The genesis for the CVTC entry was a trip to the SME International Conference in Cleveland last year, where 10 college teams took part in the contest. CVTC SME Chapter Advisor Tom Vanderloop encouraged his students to give it a try.

Grzegorek was on that trip and started brainstorming right away. The team was formed last fall.

“The team wanted to try something outside their experience with a focus on safety and renewable energy. Our original idea was an electric scooter, but we realized we would not have a budget large enough, or the time to completely manufacture our own design, not to mention the wide commercial availability (of electric scooters) we discovered upon early research,” Grzegorek said.

It was Grzegorek’s idea to narrow the concept to the brake and tail light assembly. Other team members contributed their ideas, and soon the team was designing a printed circuit board for a solar recharging system.

The target market was children’s bicycles, but team members thought it would work just as well for adult bicycles and electric-powered mobility devices often used by elderly people.

“The team researched the idea at a local bicycle business and found that the concept had not yet been explored,” Grzegorek said.

Each team member contributed in his own way.

“I got to do a lot of the soldering,” Paffel said. “This was a new experience for me, since I’m just out of (Eau Claire North) High School.”

“I helped design the circuits and selected what parts we used,” Clark said.

One of the most challenging aspects students encountered was finding time to work together outside of class. Team members have families at home and jobs outside of school.

“It was just amazing how they put everything together and worked as a team,” Vanderloop said.

The team received important contributions from community resources. CVTC nanotechnology instructor Hans Mickelson helped develop a photo circuit board for solar power. Kurt Carlson, a CVTC nanotechnician with an English background, helped with written work. And Jason Ming of Dimension X Design, a thermoform services company in Altoona, developed a means of showing judges how the product would look presented at a retail store.

Such efforts impressed the judges, as did the team’s presentation focusing on safety and saving lives. Engineers at the conference asked team members what they planned to do with their invention. Grzegorek has heard obtaining a patent is a long, expensive process and there would be some question as to who would own the patent.

“We’d like to market the idea to a company,” Grzegorek said.

If there is any money to be made from their endeavor, team members said they would like to see it go toward people like themselves, perhaps in the form of an SME scholarship fund. Team members likely won’t get rich from the invention, not directly anyway. Still, their efforts appear to have resulted in a boost for their personal careers.

Students’ work made a positive impression on conference attendees, Vanderloop said.

“These guys were offered opportunities for work a number of times,” he said. “Guys came up to them and said ‘When you guys graduate, I want to see your resume.’ “

The sustainability focus of the contest fit in well with Clark’s plans.

“I’d like to make a contribution at a factory with a good culture of sustainability,” he said.

“We’re trying to draw more women into the skilled trades because economic parody. You make decent money as a skilled trades person” says Sandy Thistle, who teaches construction at Madison College.

Thistle also helps with the ‘Tools for Tomorrow’ program. The program, put on by Madison College, lets ladies get their feet wet in the areas of trade and technology.

Thursday ‘s free workshop focused on homebuilding.

“I run the power tools at home and so I think women are totally capable of doing this type of job” says Maria Kovach, one of the dozen women who turned out to the workshop.

And if you are a woman who’s struggling to support a family, construction may be the way to go.

“Now that the economy’s picking up, there’s demand for this work and there’s nobody trained” says Thistle.

Right now, there are now more people working in construction since August 2009.
Last month, construction employment jumped by 7000.

You can find out more information on the ‘Tools for Tomorrow’ program by heading to:

http://madisoncollege.edu/women-trades-and-technology

The three-day summer exploration will take place on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Aug. 6, 7 and 8, at WCTC’s main campus in Pewaukee.

Middle school students will be introduced to a variety of careers – including those in Criminal Justice, Early Childhood Education, Metal Fabrication/Welding, Cosmetology and many more — and learn about the education and training needed for those jobs. Cost of the event is $100 per student. Sessions run from at 8:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; lunch and snacks will be provided. Registration ends June 28, and the sessions will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Space is limited!

From the options below, students can choose two career sessions to explore: • Future of Nursing (Nursing) • What’s Up, Doc? (Medical Assistant) • Authorized Personnel Only! (Surgical Technology) • To Protect and Serve — CSI style (Criminal Justice) • Emergency! (Firefighting/EMT) • Fuse it Together (Metal Fabrication/Welding) • Precision Parts (CNC Manufacturing) • Explore Robotics (Automation Systems Technology) • Baking Quest (Baking/Pastry) • Culinary Quest (Culinary Management) • The Art of Play (Early Childhood) • Spa Day (Cosmetology)

For details on career sessions, to learn more about Career Quest and to register, visit http://www.wctc.edu/career-quest. For questions, contact John Pritchett, Career Quest coordinator, at 262.695.7847 or jpritchett@wctc.edu.

WITC students toured manufacturing facilities in Ireland and participated in a variety of seminars at Waterford on the topics of international business and Irish culture. In a closing ceremony, WITC students received a certificate of achievement.

Student participant, Bea Valadez, described the experience as “a trip of a lifetime. The faculty at Waterford were engaging.”

According to Dr. Alex Birkholz of WITC, “The students experienced both work and academic life in Ireland. Ireland and Wisconsin share many industry sectors and degree programs. In a global economy, it is important that WITC students see how even small Western Wisconsin companies can benefit from alliances with economies like Ireland.”

WITC has offered international learning opportunities to its students for the past three years, with this being the first trip to Ireland. The students paid their own way through fundraising activities. An agreement between the Wisconsin Technical College System and Irish Institutes of Technology fosters collaboration between the two educational systems.

The Youth Apprenticeship program has run through the Department of Workforce Development to help Eau Claire Area School District students for a little more than a decade. But one local high school student at North High School is getting an opportunity that no one else in Wisconsin can say they’ve done.

“I rather be doing this then something else, better than sitting at home,” said Kohl Lamke, North High School student.

Getting dirty and working on heavy equipment is what Kohl Lamke calls summer vacation.

“Grew up liking trucks and anything that can move dirt worked for a couple farms, just wanted to work on something I like to do,” said Lamke.

Now Kohl can say he’s the only one in the state working as a Diesel Technician as a high school student.

“I was surprised when they told me that I was the first one to go through because I thought more people would be into this,” Lamke.

“He himself made the first contact out here at Nortrax,” said Kristan Motszko, ECASD School to Careers Coordinator.

Eric Hutchins the Service Manager at Nortrax in Chippewa Falls says he wishes he had this opportunity because his first semester in college he worked toward being a teacher.

“Give them an opportunity if that’s something they want to do, versus going to school spending the money, getting into the mainstream and deciding it isn’t what they wanted to do,” said Hutchins.

Kohl even gets the chance to work on equipment like a 70,000 pound articulated dump truck during his year long internship.

Kristan says each student completes around 450 hours of hands on experience over the course of a year.

“He’ll do coursework. He’ll do hands on work. He’ll travel with a field technician out to job sites. He’ll work with skilled people, anything from cleaning to services to adjustments on equipment,” said Hutchins.

It’s more than just work that students like Kohl get to learn.

“Showing up on time, doing what you’re asked, taking initiative to do something. Don’t just stand around and wait to be told what to do,” said Motszko.

“Industry wide has a shortage of people and to have students and people interested in the career is exciting,” said Hutchins.

“You just gotta try it, if you don’t like it you’ll find out right away nothing hurts to try it,” said Lamke.

View video from weau.com

Jacob Millner and Jake Zeman, both students at the Wisconsin Rapids Area Middle School, said their passion for engineering is what led them to participate in the VEX Robotics Camp this week at Mid-State Technical College’s Wisconsin Rapids campus. The three-day event was one of two such camps the college held throughout the week for middle- and high-school students.

“I was in the WRAMS Engineering Club, so I was like, ‘Oh, well, this kind of goes with engineering, so I might as well try it,’” said Zeman, 12, of Wisconsin Rapids. “I also had some previous experience with (building) robots.”

The Race Engineering Camp provided high school students the opportunity to build their own race cars. Participants of both activities got the chance to exhibit their creations Thursday afternoon as part of end-of-camp competitions.

Aidan Cramer and Nick Hackman, both students at Washington Elementary School in Marshfield, won first place during the VEX Robotics competition.

“I thought that we were going to lose on the first challenge, so I was shocked when we made it, and I just kept my spirits up,” said Cramer, 11, of Marshfield. “If you like engineering, building stuff, then I would recommend it.”

With state and local work force development leaders seeing an increase in the need for science and technical jobs, organizers said this week’s events provided industry leaders with an opportunity to get the attention of students at an earlier age, said Richard Breen, who helped organize the camp.

“In the area, (business leaders) have been telling us … that they need more qualified people in the areas of science, technology and mathematics,” Breen said, noting many students don’t realize they need upper-level mathematics classes in order to become engineers. By getting them engaged in various aspects of the field and helping them understand the education and training that’s required at an earlier age, hopefully they will be able to better prepare, he said.

“It’s student-motivation based, not just opening up their minds and dumping it inside,” Breen said.

While the boom in business is good for the economy, it’s turning into a problem for contractors like Dan Duren.

“Right now, we have people to draw from but we are fighting over those people we have,” said Duren.

He’s the owner of Duren Custom Builders, and has homes to build but not enough skilled tradesmen to work on them.

“There’s concrete work, foundation work, flat work, roofers, siders, insulators, electricians, plumbers, HVAC guys, there’s a whole list,” said Duren.

He’s not the only one on the hunt. Wednesday on Craiglist there were dozens of similar postings. Meantime, at Madison Area Technical College, remodeling instructor John Stephany’s phone is ringing off the hook.

“I already had over a third of our students hired and was fielding calls daily,” said Stephany.

He says the uptick is due to low interest rates, and people deciding to move forward with homes. However, many skilled workers turned in their tool belts during the recession, and now people like Duren are feeling the impact.

“It’s the young guys coming in, the young blood coming into the workforce we’re lacking on,” said Duren.

According to MATC this trend is also happening in other parts of the country like Texas, and Florida, something they believe will only grow in the coming months.

Last year Mid-State broke ground on its new Stevens Point campus. The college’s new location is in the old Centerpoint Mall.

The $6 million facility will give students access to larger labs and more study areas. Construction leaders say, as of now the project is right on schedule and when complete will be a big economic boost for the area.

“From start to finish you get to follow it through and it’s always a good feeling when you’re done and the day you leave the job and it’s complete you look back and see what you did,” Project Superintendent Jeff Glodoski said. “It’s awesome for the community in the downtown area, it’s going to do a big favor for this area.”

Mid-State leaders tell FOX55 News@9 they expect about 2,800 students per year. College leaders say they want to open the new campus by January of next year.

View video from myfoxwausau.com

That’s why for the past 17 years Northeast Wisconsin Technical College’s farm business program has tried to make farming safer in Wisconsin.

“About 25-30 fatalities a year in agriculture,” says NWTC Tractor Safety Instructor Martin Nackers about Wisconsin statistics.

Each spring Nackers and Doug Sutter teach a tractor safety course to an average of 125 students between the age of 12 and 15.

“We start kids off very young working on farms, and that’s just not something you’re born into. You really have to learn safe practices,” says Sutter.

Outside metro areas, young people often land their first job on a farm.

“The majority of my friends work on farms. Not many work at restaurants anymore, they all work on farms right now,” says 15-year old Justin Mahlberg from Denmark.

But according to state law, students like Justin can’t drive machinery on roads until they pass a course like NWTC’s.

“The parents realize the hazards are greater, so they’re wanting to make sure they’re prepared, and they’re getting farther away from the farm. Let’s face it, it’s not just that little unit anymore; they have to go several miles perhaps away from home and Mom, thank God, is concerned about that and she wants to make sure they get there and get back safely,” says Sutter.

Over four days, students learn how to operate tractors and machinery and identify hazards.

They’re also taught fire safety and first aid.

“And as these kids grow up, they tell you incidents and stories how they remembered things from tractor safety and how they’re really thankful for what we’ve done. That’s the good feeling, when you get the thank-yous that come years later,” says Nackers.

“I lost my sight in an accident,” Romero said as we sat in the hallway at Madison College-South. “I hit my head and didn’t go to the hospital in time. The pressure on my brain damaged my ocular nerves. When I lost my sight, I went to a place in San Juan they call CATT, a place where people who lost their sight go to finish their high school diploma and get computer training. They were talking about UW Wisconsin. By coincidence, my brother was here, so I decided to come to Madison.”

So Romero and his family moved to Madison in 2004 so that Romero could follow his dream. Romero has a kind of inner-peace about him, a peace that does not involve being sorry for himself or bitter about what life has presented him.

“When I lost my sight, I had to be aware that life goes on,” Romero said. “I had to continue. I wouldn’t be doing anything by sitting down and wasting my life. I just kept going, taking care of my family. I enjoy listening to music and do what I used to do before the accident. I keep doing everything I did before. Of course, I cannot drive and things like that. But I keep myself doing all of the things that I love to do. I play with my daughters. I do exercise. I go on walks with my wife and my daughters. I have fun.”

The first obstacle that Romero had to overcome was his lack of English proficiency. For his first three years in Madison, he attended ESL classes at Madison College.

“What really helped me is… in Puerto Rico they teach English one hour every day,” Romero said. “The reality is we don’t really get to know how important it is until you come to the United States. But that made it easier for me to learn the language. I had to put my time in for the writing part. I had to study every day and put my time in to be able to speak and understand the language. They had Screen Reader for
blind people.

“The good thing about MATC too is they have the DRS, the Disability Resource Center service. They make the books into CDs.
So for me to be able to navigate through the text and get the spelling and basically read it with my computer was great. All of my textbooks
were on CDs.”

Then in 2008, Romero began the liberal arts transfer program that would take him five years to complete. Romero is a patient man.

“You don’t get anything by being frustrated,” Romero said.

As Romero talked, it became apparent that he looked at his blindness as an obstacle, but not a barrier.

After he got to school the first day and found his classes and had the resources provided by the Disability Resource Center, his blindness was not the problem. His
biggest problem, he said, was staying focused.

“When people ask me how I can do it, I think it is just the same,” Romero said. “I think about all of those young students too. They have to work and go to classes. It’s just keeping focused and keep working for your goals. Even if you have all of your senses, if you go to school
and waste your time, you won’t go through.”

Romero is only part of the way to his dream. The next step is to be admitted to UW-Madison. Eventually, Romero would like to earn a
Master’s degree from the UW School of Social Work.

“I’m going to go into social work to be able to help people,” Romero said. “I would like to be working with people in need of help. For
example, I’m thinking about working in a correctional institution as a social worker. With my experience, I would be able to do well.

“Everything is possible. I want to teach people like me that going into a situation like this, anything is possible as long as we keep working
to reach our goals. You have to believe in yourself, that is the key. Life is only one and we should enjoy it as much as we can no matter
what. The main thing is to believe in yourself. ”

With his patience and perspective on life, it is clear that Romero won’t stop until he has fulfilled that vision he had back in San Juan. It’s only a matter of time.

MATC culinary arts instructor Mary Dess, along with student Maria Nasby, who attended two summers ago, talk about the culinary camps.

View video from 620wtmj.com

This was the 23rd year MSTC hosted the College Camp. Students picked four different career sessions to attend throughout the day, with fields ranging from firefighting and EMS to cosmetology. It was just a small sampling of the more than 50 programs Mid-State Technical College offers.

“The kids can really get an exposure to different career options helping them to make informed decisions for their post secondary education and future career,” New Student Specialists at MSTC Betsy Feaster explains.

Feaster says it’s especially important to expose them to their options now.

“Really in these grades they’re starting to formulate those ideas, taking general education classes or electives in junior high and high school it helps them get that broader knowledge for future decision making.”

Coordinators say college camp fills up fast every year. If your child wants to attend next year’s camp you are asked to contact the college.

View video from wsaw.com

The pre-college summer program at Blackhawk Technical College’s central campus gave middle-schoolers a hands-on feel for programs the campus offered. It continued for many years but died as part of belt-tightening measures in 2012. The new program will have the same name, but it will focus on sharpening high school students’ math and English skills so they can do well on college-entrance exams and become better prepared for college, said Stephanie Williams, student engagement coordinator.

National studies have shown that upwards of 60 percent of high school graduates who enter community colleges need remedial classes before they can take college-level courses in math and English.

At Blackhawk Technical College, 57.7 percent of the 2012 high school graduates who enrolled last fall needed remedial coursework in writing, as determined by entrance tests. Of those same students, 45.7 percent needed remediation in math and 33.7 percent in reading. Tech Knowledge College would benefit any student that plans on attending any college or university, Williams said.

The program, funded through the state Department of Public Instruction, will be able to take 80 students, divided into two sessions, Williams said. Tech Knowledge College Camp will run from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. during the weeks of July 8-12 and July 22-26. The program is free to students entering ninth, 10, 11th or 12th grades this fall and who meet household income guidelines.

Campers also will be able to explore two of five Blackhawk Technical College program options. They can choose from culinary arts, health care, information technology, welding and public safety.

Students will begin the camp with a test so they know where they need to improve, Williams said. The program is open to any income-eligible high school student in the college’s district, which comprises most of Rock and Green counties. Free bus transportation will be provided each day from Beloit Memorial, Janesville Craig and Janesville Parker high schools. Breakfast and lunch will be provided. Program availability will be determined on a first-come, first-served basis until each camp is filled.

And it has saved their families more than $100,000.

More than 500 students have taken a dual-curriculum program that gives students credit for a high school class while they earn college hours at Mid-State Technical College.

It is a program that can help the students get a jumpstart on their college career and save money, said Eric Siler, LHS technical education coordinator.

“We always looking at partnering with out post-secondary education and try to give our students a leg up to explore opportunities,” he said. “Once they graduate, they are paying for those courses.”

Only in its sixth year, the program has expanded from eight students who took 24 college credits in 2007-2008 school year to this past year when 243 students amassed 734 credits, out of the more than 1,100 students in the school.

The program is a great partnership for the students, said Amanda Lang, director of enrollment management at MSTC.

Through its assembly of precision machinery, Trace-A-Matic, 21125 Enterprise Ave., serves a multitude of industries, including oil, gas, mining, construction, aerospace, food services, printing, pharmaceutical and railroads.

“You name it, we dabble in it,” Obst said.

In the fall of 2012, Obst reached out to Elmbrook School District administrators in hopes of creating a work-study program for high school students. With his own kids in the district, Obst knew it was the perfect place to recruit.

“We don’t need operators. We need full-blown engineers running our machines,” Obst said. “We looked for a variety of different ways to find people because we’re not finding the horsepower we need to run those machines.”

Real world opportunity

By January, district administrators, Trace-A-Matic and Waukesha County Technical College had come together to craft a pilot program tailored to meet the workforce needs of local employers, fulfill high school graduation requirements and offer free college credits.

Elmbrook and other school districts have been encouraged by the state Department of Public Instruction to create learning experiences that allow high school students to enroll in post-secondary courses at a four-year college, a technical school or other private educational institution.

Starting next fall, work-study students will work to complete remaining high school graduation requirements during the first morning block period. Courses at WCTC will be scheduled in the late morning and afternoon and will fulfill remaining elective and math graduation requirements for senior students, just as Youth Options courses do.

Upon completion of the program, students will earn a high school diploma and machine tool operation technical certificate, as well as participate in competitive interviews for employment at Trace-A-Matic or other local manufacturing firms.

The program will come at no cost to the district, as WCTC and Trace-A-Matic have agreed to fund it. WCTC has secured grants with the state Department of Workforce Development and the Department of Public Instruction.

Building a model

Curt Mould, Elmbrook director of secondary education, said one of the goals of the pilot program was to build a model that could be expanded into other fields.

“It’s a great opportunity for us to provide to our kids,” Mould said. “They leave with a diploma, a certificate and with employability skills. Some of them will have guaranteed jobs, some of which will include up to 100 percent tuition reimbursement.”

Mould wasn’t sure how much student interest the program would elicit, so Elmbrook partnered with the Waukesha School District to ensure filling the 12 open work-study spots at Trace-A-Matic.

More than 20 students applied, including at least 11 from Elmbrook, and Trace-A-Matic was forced to turn students away. The program increased enrollment to 18, and then again to 20.

Obst had the applicants take the company culture index survey, just like regular employees do. The survey exposes drive, determination, stamina and learning style. Two students showed up in suits, and one followed up with a “thank you” note.

Obst also had them take the company math test.

“There were several students from East that didn’t even use a calculator, which completely awed me,” he said.

Approximately 200 central Wisconsin students entering grades 6 through 8 will be on campus Tuesday for MSTC’s annual College Camp, a hands-on and fun-filled opportunity to explore the careers and skills oftomorrow.  College Camp presents each attendee with the opportunity to participate in four career exploration sessions from a long list of options.  MSTC New Student Specialist Betsy Feaster says the June 11 daytime camp filled up quickly again this year.

“Campers come excited to learn and ‘try out’ new things,” said Feaster.  “This is a great opportunity to introduce middle school students to MSTC and the Wisconsin Technical College System to help them begin to form opinions and make early decisions regarding post-secondary education options and future careers.”

The Technical & Industrial Division is hosting a VEX Robotics Camp for middle school students and the Race Engineering Camp for high school students this week as well.  A total of 24 students will participate in each of the engineering day camps to be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on June 11-13.

VEX Robotics campers are divided into teams of two.  The camp concludes with a robotics competition on the last day of the camp.  Race Engineering campers are divided into four-person teams.  Each student team is sponsored by an area business (ERCO, Pointe Precision, Domtar, NewPage, Corenso, and Renaissance Learning) to lower the cost of the camp to participants.  Teams set up a 1/10 scale remote control car for durability, speed, and efficiency.  Along the way, students learn valuable lessons in engineering science, electronics, physics, and math.  They also learn about branding and promoting their team and get an opportunity to view setup of an actual race car on the first day of the camp.  The camp will conclude with time trials and racing on the last day.

The eventful week closes with a Makers Fair from 6-8 p.m. on Thursday, July 13 in room T-137.  This community show and tell event is intended for all ages.  VEX Robots and race cars from the aforementioned camps will be on display, along with a nanowire kit, production of isoprenes from algae, innovative wood byproduct materials, kinetic glass sculptures, silk and flax spinning and weaving, a 3D printer, and techniques in pottery, glass working, jewelry, sculpture, and blacksmithing.  The event is free and open to the public.

Local artists, tinkerers, makers, and hackers are all encouraged to exhibit the interesting and beautiful things they are working on.  Makers wishing to participate should contact Richard Breen at 715-423-5359 to arrange for space and power.  Maker setup is scheduled from 5-6 p.m.

MSTC camps are popular with area youth, so they fill up fast.  Students interested in attending College Camp next year can contact Betsy Feaster at 715-422-5413.  Individuals who are interested in future engineering camps can contact Gary Kilgas at 715-422-5572.  To learn more about MSTC, visit www.mstc.edu or stop by the MSTC location nearest you.

The company, founded in 1948 in Milwaukee, has 110 employees at its 75,000-square-foot facility, which has been expanded four times, most recently in 2009. And there’s room for growth – the facility sits on 10 acres.

“We have room for more expansion. We are essentially full again,” said president Jared Masters.

Kinetic makes about 20 categories of knives and has around 5,000 different SKUs. The knives, most of which are made of steel, are adapted to meet the desired cutting style.

New employees must be thoroughly trained on how to set up each job, since there are so many different product set-ups, Cash said. Over the last five to 10 years, a lot of experienced employees have been retiring so he has undertaken a constant and more documented training process in the shop.

Kinetic recently received a $42,520 Workforce Advancement Training grant from Milwaukee Area Technical College for blueprint training, master CAM and surface grinding training.

There are two sections of nine workers each that started the courses at MATC’s Milwaukee campus on May 20, said Ginny Gnadt, senior specialist in public relations at MATC. The employees will also be trained in MSSC safety at work.

“This provides the company with better-trained employees and gives the workers a chance to make more money by having a higher skill level,” Gnadt said.

Since their father, Joseph, died in February, brothers Jared and Cash Masters have taken the helm at the industrial knifemaker.

Under Joseph, the company grew significantly in the last five years, entering new markets and widening its reach.

“We’ve expanded our focus,” said Cash, vice president. “Years ago it was just knives for paper.”

The company now serves steel mills, power plants and other industrial companies with both blade manufacturing and contract grinding and machining.

“We’ve got such a wide variety of product lines and products within those product lines that this is what’s helped us when the economy might slow down,” Cash said.

But that variety can also mean a longer lead time because of the number of product changes each machine undergoes, Jared said. Its diversity has also set Kinetic apart from competitors, since it serves several industries instead of just one.

Paper manufacturers like Kimberly-Clark Corp. still make up the largest portion of Kinetic’s customer base, while steel mills and food packagers are also drivers.

A thin perforation blade is used to create designs and perforate products like toilet paper, while thick contoured knives slice through metals. Most of the blades Kinetic makes aren’t sharp to the touch – they’re simply used with force.

Depending on the application, a blade is rough ground, milled or turned. Kinetic takes on any project it can perform, Jared said.

Many of Kinetic’s customers are in the Midwest, particularly for the contract machining work. It exports about 10 percent of its products, and is growing that segment in South and Central America, Jared said.

The company keeps its work in-house so it can control the quality, which sets it apart from competitively priced products, he said.

“When a piece of raw steel comes in the door, for all of our product lines we do 99 percent of the work here,” Cash said.

Kinetic had about $25 million in annual revenue in 2012, up more than 20 percent in the last three years. Jared expects about five percent growth for 2013.

The company invested almost $2 million in equipment last year. It moves employees around based on which areas are busier.

“We don’t do budgets,” Jared said. “If we need it, we buy it. If we don’t need it, we don’t buy it.”

Through the Leadership Development Program, launched in June by WCTC’s Center for Business Performance Solutions and the Innovative Leadership Institute, instructors Christine McMahon and Joseph Weitzer, Ph.D., aim to equip emerging leaders with tools and skills needed to meet companies’ performance expectations.

While McMahon, a business strategist and a columnist for BizTimes Milwaukee, and Weitzer, dean of the Center for Business Performance Solutions, will incorporate class meetings and one-on-one coaching into the format of their program, much of their approach to leadership development will defy traditional learning models.

“In a lot of learning programs that you participate in, you have materials that you have to learn and absorb and then you have to figure out, ‘How do I apply it in my world?’” McMahon said. “In our program, we’re immersing (participants) in the real world so the ‘a-ha’ moment happens when they take the journey inward.”

The Leadership Development Program, targeted toward professionals likely to move into higher executive positions as well as leaders who are underperforming, will walk participants through an experience-based immersion process to gain firsthand perspective on basic leadership principles.

The 12-month program, capped at about eight participants, will push emerging leaders to identify and examine leadership tenets through the lens of their own workplace experiences. By discussing leadership competencies within the context of their own environments, emerging leaders will remain grounded in the real world while absorbing a diversity of perspectives and engaging in a continuum of self-reflection.

“Through our guided discussions and interactions, they’re going to raise (leadership principles) on their own,” Weitzer said. “We’re going to get them there.”

Part of the honing process will require program participants to reframe their focus in order to accelerate the learning process during individual experiences.

“A lot of what they learn they learn by doing and making mistakes around,” Weitzer said. “The problem is that learning isn’t happening fast enough. So if I make a mistake I could move past it simply because it just happened, or I can learn from it. But if I’m not focused on the right piece of learning, I don’t develop as a leader and I’m more likely to make that mistake again.”

The program’s curriculum comprises 32 pre-developed learning modules zeroing in on critical leadership topics such as effective and persuasive communication, problem solving, conflict resolution, negotiations, and presentation strategies.

Emerging leaders likely won’t cover all 32 modules as McMahon and Weitzer tailor learning outcomes to individual participants to propel them forward with the rest of the group. They will also customize learning outcomes to fulfill the expectations of participants’ companies.

“So when (participants) go back to their organization, we’re not teaching them something the organization doesn’t support,” Weitzer said. “We’re teaching it in alignment with what that organization is expecting of their leaders.”

To identify the needs of both companies and program participants, McMahon and Weitzer have created an initial assessment that surveys organizational leadership about the dynamics of their operations and potential participants about their leadership abilities and aspirations.

“Through the assessment that we do upfront, we’re going to be designing the curriculum to meet the unique developmental needs of the participants,” McMahon said. “So every one of our leadership development programs will be different because it’s going to be based upon what they need.”

The assessment, phase one of four, also helps determine if an individual is an optimal match for the Leadership Development Program. The established phases round out with Authentic Leadership Architecture, Transformation and Integration, at which point emerging leaders take their lessons back to the boardroom.

To ensure each participant receives constant support throughout their personal leadership development, they will be paired with a mentor from within their organization. Mentors, selected and counseled by McMahon and Weitzer, will act as another resource for emerging leaders as they attempt to implement learning modules into the workplace.

“From the organization, itself, they still have responsibility to help this leader develop,” Weitzer said. “They play a role, a very significant role, in that development.”

The Leadership Development Program forms the first pillar in a broader leadership initiative to bolster innovation and support organizational development as a whole. The initiative was born from a series of needs assessments conducted by WCTC’s Center for Business Performance Solutions that highlighted a demand for quality, skilled leaders in the region’s business sector.

McMahon and Weitzer plan to roll out a second stage of the initiative, titled the Innovative Leadership Institute, that focuses on strategies to mold an innovative leader. They will also roll out a third stage exploring ways organizations can pivot to embrace innovation as part of their corporate culture.

Both stages, which will likely be available in 2014, are rooted in exceptional leadership.

“You can’t have innovation without good, solid leadership,” Weitzer said. “You can’t have good organizational structure that’s sustainable without good leadership. Our approach here is, ‘Let’s build a cohort of strong leaders.’”

The Leadership Development Program, which reinforces the Center for Business Performance Solutions’ mission to help companies build a strong workforce and advance productivity, costs $2,900 per participant. The program will debut its first formalized session this August with a second following in October. For more information, visit http://www.wctc.edu/cbps.

The grant funds a partnership between MSTC, the Wisconsin Rapids School District and the Marshfield School District designed to prepare high school juniors and seniors from low-socioeconomic households for the rigors of postsecondary education.

Students increase their writing and math skills through participation in college classes taught on an MSTC campus by technical college certified instructors. Students are supported by a case manager who works to mitigate barriers to academic success and retention. Supports include assistance in the completion of college applications, financial aid applications, career exploration, program research and community building.

The academic skills gained through successful completion of the classes and/or adequate Accuplacer scores fulfill prerequisites for entry into program level writing and math classes. The elimination of pre-college classes through successful completion of the Pre-College Project means participating students may pay less tuition and avoid delays effecting program completion and subsequent employment.

“The Pre-College Preparation Project provides the vital academic and study skill tools students from low-socioeconomic households need to be prepared for college,” said MSTC Associate Dean Jo-Ellen Fairbanks-Schutz.

Interested students and their families can contact Marshfield High School Assistant Principal Liz Dostal or Carrie Siler and John Bemis at River Cities High School for more information.

MSTC was one of 34 recipients to receive some of the more than $4 million in College Ready grant funds awarded by Great Lakes to provide students with academic-focused services during the 2013-14 academic year. Grant recipient programs will provide services to students across Minnesota and Wisconsin during the upcoming academic year, helping a total of 4,000 students succeed in higher education.

Great Lakes’ College Ready grant is designed to support programs that help students from traditionally underserved backgrounds, including students from low-income households, students of color, and those who are the first in their families to attend college. It prepares individuals in grades 6 through 12, as well as adult learners, to arrive on campus ready to enroll in college-level courses.

According to Mike O’Donnell, dean of health sciences at Gateway, the program was closed to new applicants after school officials found a decline in the job market for graduates with radiography degrees.

After collaborating with an advisory committee, made of professionals from the southeastern Wisconsin area, O’Donnell and other Gateway officials saw the job market was steadily declining for recently graduated radiographers. These are the people who take X-rays, MRIs and the like at hospitals and medical centers.

In addition to the professional input, Gateway surveyed those who already had graduated with the degree and found they were working multiple part-time jobs, some of which involved working on call.

“There probably wasn’t going to be any full-time jobs with benefits in hospitals for the students,” O’Donnell said. “They aren’t hiring new radiographers.”

However, Jake Nunn, director of imaging with Aurora Health Care, said Aurora is hiring radiographers, but fewer of them as the demand has decreased because more are graduating with radiology degrees. A radiographer takes and processes the images; a radiologist is a doctor who interprets and diagnoses disease or injury from the images.

“In the past we saw a shortage of these candidates, but new training programs have created a growing number of applicants. Like Gateway, we have identified this shift and decreased the number of caregivers in our own training program,” Nunn said.

The radiography program is expensive, too, O’Donnell said. The price of running the program, license requirements, becoming accredited and the lack of jobs for graduates made Gateway officials question the program.

“We looked at all those factors and asked ourselves if the program was the best use of Gateway’s resources,” O’Donnell said. “We asked ourselves if it was ethical to take Gateway students’ tuition money if they’re not going to get a job when they graduate.”

In December, O’Donnell and his co-workers closed enrollment to the radiography program, despite having 100 students on a waiting list.

Gateway notified those on the waiting list and asked if they were serious about becoming radiographers.

After the group was narrowed, students that had been on the waitlist for the longest time were accepted into the final radiography program at Gateway.

Sixteen students, as well as four or five alternates, make up the class that will graduate in 2015.

Gateway advisers assisted the other students in choosing another program to enroll in or transferring to another college with an open radiography program.

“We got them (the students who didn’t get in) into other programs,” O’Donnell said, even in some programs that might have already been full. “We gave the students special accommodation because they had already been on the wait list for so long.”

Although some students were upset that they didn’t get into the program their chose, O’Donnell said that once the job market was explained, students weren’t as upset.

“Nobody wanted to invest time and money in something they weren’t going to get a job in,” he said.

About 35 community college and technical school educators and human resource managers of manufacturing companies, along with workforce development experts, met at the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association International’s (FMA) T.E.A.M. Summit in Anoka, Minn., to tackle the multifaceted and complex manufacturing talent crisis. They concluded that foundational changes must be made in curriculum education in college and high schools, certification and credentialing programs, and internships and apprenticeships.

Moreover, the group discussed different ways to change negative public perceptions about manufacturing, stimulate younger generations into entering the sector, and create greater employee engagement, development, and retention at manufacturing businesses. But the biggest challenge, both teachers and employers acknowledged, is overcoming the disconnect that currently exists between the educational system and the private sector in preparing students with the skills they require to become effective workers.

Despite coming from different areas around the country, skilled trades instructors and program administrators lamented a similar lack of engagement by manufacturing businesses in their student development efforts. Years of under-coordination with employers have resulted in numerous situations where the graduates and would-be employees they produce do not match up with job competencies.

Larry Clark, who teaches welding and metal fabrication at Moraine Park Technical College, in Fond du Lac, Wis., said that while several local manufacturers are members of the school’s manufacturing program advisory committee, they meet with faculty just twice per year. “We need an engaged faculty working with employers,” he said.

Today’s shop floor skills in advanced manufacturing facilities can be highly specialized, but employers have not been defining them specifically enough to educators, according to Dave Stotelmyre, machine shop instructor at Kirkwood Community College, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. That problem is magnified because of the rapid pace of manufacturing technology advances. He said the school has had difficulties placing the right candidates into area manufacturers, as a result.

“Companies need to have some forethought and identify what their needs are,” Stotelmyre said. “When the [employees] are not what they expected, now the specifics start flowing out.” He said companies “need to be involved right up front” with schools, working together as partners in developing the right manufacturing employees.

“Manufacturers, in general, don’t think that educating their future workforce is their job,” said Pat Lee of the FMA.

Larry Clark (left), of Moraine Park Technical College in Fond Du Lac, Wis., talks shop with Dennis Ringgenberg (middle) and Dave Stotelmyre (right), both from Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Credit: William Ng

“This problem has been around for a long time,” said John Calver, director of the Advanced Manufacturing Excellence Center at Thomas Nelson Community College, in Hampton, Va. “It was ignored because their immediate needs were still being met – until now.”

He equated talent development to a supply chain whose design, long-range planning, and execution require private-sector commitment. “Employers don’t see educators in the supply-chain light,” said Calver, who added that when businesses look to schools for people, they “expect to have it tomorrow.” He described those expectations as being “unrealistic.”

Clark of Moraine Park Technical College said that when manufacturers call the school, “they’re desperate.”

Manufacturers, likewise, have struggled with alignment issues with education institutions. In southwest Louisiana, Begneaud Manufacturing Inc., a precision sheet metal fabrication shop based in Lafayette, has had trouble finding workers skilled in TIG (tungsten inert gas) welding due partly to local schools teaching only stick (arc) welding. “There are seven welding programs and five machining programs in my area, but no TIG welding,” said Andree Begneaud, employee relations director and co-owner of the 55-employee company, who spoke on a panel at the FMA T.E.A.M. Summit.

The manufacturer therefore began internships that offer locally enrolled welding students opportunities to add TIG welding to their skill sets. “We are doing the TIG welding component of local education programs, where students spend three days a week at Begneaud,” she said. Yet in Louisiana, internships are not considered a part of the state’s educational system, but, still, they must be approved and sanctioned before they can be implemented.

Wilson Tool International, headquartered in White Bear Lake, Minn., is another business that had difficulties with schools. Its internship programs are aimed at nurturing high school students to become CNC machinists, as well as mechanical designers and mechanical maintenance operators. “We were looking to partner with high schools, but it was difficult,” said Amanda Kehoe, director of human resources at the company, which makes tooling systems for punch presses and press brakes, and punch and die components for sheet metal stamping equipment. “I couldn’t get [any school official] to talk to me. And schools didn’t allow kids out of their buildings.”

“Make friends with instructors, and bring schools to your company,” Laura Elsner, workforce development manager for DeWys Manufacturing, a machine shop and metal fabricator based in Marne, Mich., advised other manufacturers during a presentation at the FMA event. “You have to build the relationship, and work with educators, not against them. Get to know the right people at schools.”

Although DeWys initially began a 12-week educational curriculum and training course that was just internal for its own manufacturing operations, the 140-person company has struck partnerships with both area post-secondary educational institutions and high schools. It is now collaborating with Grand Valley State University, Ferris State University, and Grand Rapids Community College in the areas of weld engineering, manufacturing engineering, and machining. The company is also involved in Coopersville High School’s Manufacturing Engineering Partnership Program, and with Kenowa Hills High School on conducting hands-on manufacturing camps for teenagers.

That proactive approach ensures that manufacturing employers have a talent pipeline that possesses the particular skills they need, said Gabrielle Caputo, Americas product manager for the manufacturing and logistics markets for global staffing company Kelly Services, headquartered in Troy, Mich. A keynote speaker at the FMA meeting, Caputo, who has 15 years of experience in workforce development and talent acquisition, said to the summit’s participants, “Look at your internal talent and develop your own talent supply chain.”

The manufacturing labor pool is aging. Before 2018, 78.5 million baby boomers will have left the workforce, Caputo said, citing U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. At Wilson Tool, the average employee age is 45. “We have a very senior workforce,” Kehoe said. There is a sense of urgency now to make sure huge chunks of the labor pool are refilled. And that will drive greater cooperation between educators and employers, they expect.

“We have to get better at matching faculty teaching to real-world employer needs,” said Katherine Whelchel, a project manager for Bio-Link, a National Advanced Technological Education Center, part of the National Science Foundation.

That sentiment was echoed by Matthew Salo, biomedical market development manager and program advisor at Anoka-Ramsey Community College, in Coon Rapids, Minn., who said private-public partnerships must have a sense of “matching employer-needed outcomes with what the schools are capable of delivering.”

Jeff Stapel, human resources manager at Schickel Corp., a metal fabricator and machine shop in Bridgewater, Va., noted, “I want to focus on doing more for my people, exploring the new welding program at my local community college.” He added, “I appreciate having new contacts who can help me.”

“I know I need to get a good relationship going with my local technical college,” said Dan Bushman, human resources and safety manager for Northern Metal Fab Inc., in Baldwin, Wis. “I need to overcome the awkward formality dance we’re doing, and I know I need to take responsibility for making this happen.”

Why does it remain difficult to find workers to fill job openings at a time of persistently high unemployment? The phenomenon defies logic, not to mention Economics 101. Many manufacturers say they’d hire more people, and create more employment in the process, if only they could find qualified candidates.

The “skills gap,” as the issue is known, has not gone away in Wisconsin, even after years of debate, theories, white papers and innumerable complaints from frustrated plant managers.

Recent weeks have produced a flurry of fresh research and initiatives, showing that the disconnect continues to touch a raw nerve in a state known for its machine shops and metalworkers.

“Some people don’t think that it’s a reality,” said David Mitchell, president of Monarch Corp., a privately held Milwaukee machining and metal fabrication company. “But the skills gap is real. I live it every day. There’s not enough skilled labor out there. It really is my number one impediment to growth. I can find new customers. I can find new industries.”

Mitchell co-chairs a newly launched initiative, sponsored by the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, called the Manufacturing Careers Partnership. The MMAC program aims to systematically learn the exact needs of local industry, based on surveys of employers in southeastern Wisconsin, and then share the findings with the leading technical training colleges, such as the Milwaukee Area Technical College, so they can adjust their curriculum to the needs of the economy.

It will develop a pilot program for welders, which is the best known example of industrial skills shortages. Once the pilot program for welders is up and running, the partnership wants to adapt that pilot model to other areas of the economy, with machinists next in line, said Shelley Jurewicz, who is overseeing the MMAC effort.

The notion of canvassing employers on their needs seems long overdue, Jurewicz said.

“It sounds like something that should have been done already, but it wasn’t,” she said.

“People are holding back on investment, because they don’t know if they should expand, because they don’t know if they have ready talent,” said Scott Jansen, director of the newly created Office of Skills Development, an arm of the state Department of Workforce Development.

Jansen’s job will be to build a new agency within the agency, with its own $15 million budget for 2014-’15. The funding is earmarked for customized job-training programs, tailored for the specific needs of Wisconsin-based employers.

At the same time, the state workforce agency last month said it plans to hire a Boston-based web development firm to build an automated online system to connect “job seekers with openings that employers need to fill.”

The issue is hardly limited to Wisconsin. The competition to find talent has become a global pursuit that vexes many industries, as California’s high-tech industries recruit engineers from India and Wisconsin’s welding shops cede work to Texas, according to research at ManpowerGroup Inc., the global recruitment and placement company based in Milwaukee.

Manpower, which studies talent shortage issues around the globe, says Wisconsin ranks as the No. 5 state in terms of demand for welders, behind Texas, Ohio, California and Pennsylvania. But Wisconsin does not even make it into the top 10 states in terms of the supply of welders.

Separately, Manpower used data from the CareerBuilder Internet-based job placement database to search for job advertisements for welders in metro Milwaukee between March 2012 and February 2013. It found 861 postings but only 183 active candidates for the positions.

A training disconnect?

There is broad consensus on a few of the main causes. One of the most-often cited is the perception that manufacturing is dumb, dirty, dangerous and declining. Kids who saw their parents’ generation endure layoffs, furloughs and plant shutdowns shun manufacturing careers.

Another problem, which has been cited for years, is that the main tech schools haven’t bothered to align their teaching curriculum with present-day needs, focusing on graduation rates instead of job placement rates, Jurewicz said.

“The tech colleges are crazy that they don’t talk with employers enough,” Jurewicz said. “Do I get frustrated? Of course I do.”

MATC spokeswoman Kathleen Hohl said the school has established advisory committees for each of its associate degrees and technical diploma programs, meant to give input on the curriculum. “It’s a valuable part of our process,” Hohl said.

The MATC welding program, which has come under heavy outside criticism in recent years, currently has an adviser from GenMet Corp. in Mequon, one of the companies that have complained loudest about the inability to hire skilled metalworkers. It also has representatives from the two big metro Milwaukee mining equipment companies, Joy Global Inc. and Caterpillar Inc.

In addition, others in the region’s academic community strongly dispute that Wisconsin lacks skilled workers. One recent report referred to the notion as a “myth.”

That report by the Center for Economic Development at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee found “no statistical evidence of a skills shortage.” One of its key findings was that wages in those trades, such as welding, have not increased in Wisconsin, as one would expect if those skills were in demand.

“If Wisconsin employers were encountering a shortage of skilled labor, wages would be going up, but in Wisconsin real wages have declined since 2000,” the report found. Nor is there evidence that Wisconsin employers added hours to their existing workforce to compensate for an alleged skilled labor shortage, it said.

However, others have expressed concerns not only that there is a real skills gap, but that it could get worse before it gets better.

Among the concerns: demographics and the looming retirement of the “baby boom” generation. Economists at the Department of Workforce Development project that roughly 1 million jobs will have opened up in Wisconsin between 2010 and 2020, including about 680,000 to replace workers leaving the workforce. Roughly 340,000 are growth positions.

Right now, it’s unclear whether enough replacement workers are in the pipeline.

State feels global wage pressure

And then there’s another issue: globalization-driven pressure on wages.

Wages in the United States have come under unprecedented pressure, partly from the last recession but also from low-wage foreign competition. In the most recent 12-month period, private-sector wages fell 1.1% across the entire U.S. economy.

Wisconsin feels wage pressure more acutely. In the most recent period with comparable data, Wisconsin’s wages were under twice as much pressure, falling 2.2% in the private sector.

At the same time, wages are rising in developing nations such as China in what amounts to a global leveling of wages.

For any industry that feels low-wage foreign competition, the phenomenon of wage equalization puts factory managers in a Catch-22: They can’t increase pay without becoming uncompetitive, but they can’t fill the jobs with uncompetitive wages, said Jonas Prising, a senior executive at Manpower.

The more closely a Wisconsin company competes with China, the less latitude that employer has to lure a worker with higher wages.

Globalization radically changes what used to be a textbook rule-of-thumb in the pre-global age: When there’s a shortage of labor, wages will rise to attract the talent. That is no longer a reliable expectation, Prising said.

Never before have companies and managers had such instant access to prevailing wage rates around the world, he said.

In its 2012 survey of U.S. employers who have trouble filling job openings, Manpower found that 54% said candidates turned down the work because they expected higher pay.

“The big difference today, compared to almost every other recession, is our understanding and transparency of wages and who we compete with and where,” Prising said. “This is a very new phenomenon.”

Together, they’ll fill the additional 13,500 foot space that is being constructed.

“We went on a road trip last year looking at simulation labs in our state and also reviewed online other simulation labs in other settings,” explains NWTC’s Health Sciences Dean Kay Tupala.

A picture is posted near the construction site of what the building will look like on the outside, but inside, it will be filled with upgraded equipment to help students develop the critical skills they need for their careers.

Tupala adds ”what we can do in simulation is give students scenarios they may not get exposed to at the hospital.”

Nursing students say even though it’s a simulation lab, the skills they learn are invaluable.

“When you go into a simulation lab you totally lose sight that it’s just a mannequin there,” describes Young. ”The kind of equipment they have, they have real blood pressures, they change. You can see if they have loss of circulation because their finger tips turn blue.”

The $3.5 million dollar project is expected to be completed by January 2014.

A couple of years ago his employer at Menlo Worldwide Logistics in Beloit passed over him for a promotion because he didn’t have a college degree.

“I’ve got 10-plus years of warehouse experience. You name it I’ve done it,” the 36-year-old Janesville resident said. “They were hell-bent on having someone with a degree, and it didn’t matter if it was related to warehousing or not.”

He then got another job in Janesville after a worker was out recovering from a surgery. Even after he was told it was a permanent position he was let go after the worker returned.

After that he talked with his wife, Danielle, and they decided he should go back to school to get his associate’s degree at Blackhawk Technical College. The decision wasn’t easy having two kids at the time, and recently welcoming a third, but Danielle’s job in healthcare allowed them to live off the one salary. He recently graduated with a degree in Information Technology Network Specialist.

“I’ve always worked on computers on the side at my home,” he said. “First time I went to college was for computers so I’ve always liked working with them.”

Recent graduates are still feeling the affects of the recession even though the market seems to be improving. Jeff Scott, IT instructor at Blackhawk Technical College, said graduating students are not only competing against their peers, but also against other workers who have lost jobs due to downsizing in the workforce.

“Right now it’s more of an employer’s market versus an employee’s market,” Scott said. “So in some ways potential employers have the pick as far as if they want someone with more experience. So what I tell students is, ‘What you have to realize is much of the experience you have is very relevant and new compared to those that have been downsized.’”

However information technology jobs is one area that is seeing growth in the average number of employees. Towards the end of 2011 there were about 1,100 jobs in information technology in Rock County, according to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD). In the fourth quarter of 2012 there were more than 1,300 IT jobs in Rock County.

“It’s kind of across the board,” said Dave Winters, chief labor economist at DWD, on the average job increases. “We’re seeing it in construction, manufacturing, professional and business services, IT and healthcare.”

Construction added about 400 jobs between 2011 and 2012 going from 2,200 to more than 2,600 average employees in Rock County. Manufacturing grew by nearly 600 positions up to 9,032. Health services positions grew by about 400 positions between 2011 and 2012

Statewide the numbers are similar to the county numbers. About 395,600 were employed in the health services in 2012 compared to 390,300 in 2011. Construction workers by about 1,000 workers up to 93,000 and manufacturing grew by about 10,000 from 443,000 to 453,000.

Winters said there a couple different factors economists look at when determining the strength of the job market such as the unemployment rate and income tax revenue generated by the state.

Cathy Wickersham, director of community based learning at Beloit College, said the college works closely with the students through all four years.

Both Wickersham and Scott said having internships on a resume has significantly helped recent graduates over the last several years. Beloit College now requires students to do a unit incorporating some aspect outside the classroom.

“In terms of surveying employers what most want from college graduates is the ability to think critically, communicate effectively and also they are looking for students who have demonstrated an ability to take what they’ve learned in the classroom and take it beyond the classroom,” Wickersham said.

Scott tells students to emphasize internship experience on their resume when applying for jobs.

“It’s mainly because of younger students,” he said. “A lot have very little to no real world experience. I tell them to highly emphasize the fact that they have had an internship. One thing that employers have told me is that it shows some stability on their part.”

Rice said professors tell students for every 10 resumes sent out usually one will call back for an interview, and a job offer tends to come every five to seven interviews.

“So for about 50 resumes sent out you should get at least one job offer,” he said.

Rice currently is training as a computer support specialist at Data Dimensions in Janesville. Looking back he knows he made the right decision going back to school.

“There’s no doubt I wouldn’t be in the position I am without my degree,” he said.

The class that graduated Thursday night is the last to graduate before GED requirements change January 2014. Starting in 2014 the tests will be computer-based and an essay portion will be added.

Students who don’t finish before the deadline will have to start over.

“The students have made quite an accomplishment tonight,” said Jim Merritt, director of testing and assessment at Madison College. “They have worked very hard and some of them have been working at it for years and have felt a little pressure to get done with the changes coming this year.”

For most students, it takes years to complete the degree they hope will lead to better employment.

The ceremony, where 92 students received their degrees, featured live music and a speech from the CEO of the Dane County Boys and Girls Club.

But as she’s trying to get into the job market, the state’s forecast for economic conditions is looking a little cloudy. That’s according to the latest Leading Index by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, which ranks the state 49th. The Badger state is one of five with a contraction score; the only state scoring worse is Wyoming.

Countrywide, the index score is predicted to grow by 1.4%.
Wisconsin’s score was -.74.

But not everybody thinks those numbers should lead to panic.
A career and employment specialist with Madison College tells us that job prospects for their graduates are actually pretty good. “We have a wonderful placement rate and I’m very proud of that,” said Rochelle Wanner, a career and employment specialist for the school. “It’s part of the reason why I stay at this college is because we are very successful in helping our students.”

Prospects vary by field, but she said about 68% of their grads end up working in a related field to what they studied. “One of the things I always work with with students is that they have to go out and work for a job, it just doesn’t come to you,” she said. “You got to go out and look for it.”

Hunter’s following that advice–and feeling confident that she’ll find what she wants in the Badger state. “Definitely not going anywhere,” she said. “I feel like with what I’m seeing out there with job prospects it’s pretty positive.”

Now, even though Wisconsin is ranked near the bottom, the state is actually scoring better than it did last month. It’s improved from a score of -1.7 last month to -.74 this month.

Aspiring and/or current beginning graziers (i.e. Apprentices) are linked to veteran “Master” graziers for on-farm training/employment, while Apprentices also go through formal classroom schooling. The aim is to transfer dairy farms, equip new dairy producers to establish operations of their own, or provide the industry with highly skilled dairy-farm managers.

A 1978 graduate of Moraine Park’s Tool and Die Technologies Apprenticeship program, Staral serves as vice president at Willer Tool Corp., in Jackson.

A total of 65 percent of Willer Tool Corp.’s 60 employees are Moraine Park graduates.

“I’m Moraine Park’s biggest fan,” said Staral, who has three family members who are graduates of Wisconsin technical colleges.

He believes MPTC graduates are ready for immediate employment.

“They receive hands-on experience, learn to deal with others outside the classroom and are well prepared for the job field,” Staral said.

For 35 years Staral has helped grow Willer Tool Corp. from the six-person operation he originally joined to one of 60.

“We have three to six Moraine Park graduates going through the apprenticeship program,” Staral observed. “The industry is really strong. Right now I could place 20 graduates in the tool and die field within Washington County.”

Staral is also a member of the Moraine Park CNC/Tool and Die Technologies Advisory Committee and will become one of two new members on Moraine Park’s District Board in July.

As a CNC/Tool and Die Technologies Advisory Committee member, Staral and other industry experts, work with Moraine Park instructors to ensure students learn the industry’s most critical skills and use the latest technologies. Similarly, as a Moraine Park District Board member Staral works to make decisions about the budget and new program implementation.

“Manufacturing is big in Wisconsin, so we have to continue investment in programs, machines and tools,” he said.

A lifelong West Bend resident, Staral is president of Friends of West Bend Parks and serves on the West Bend Baseball Association Board of Directors and the West Bend Park and Recreation Commission.

The Manufacturing Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based affiliate of the National Association of Manufacturers that is dedicated to improving and expanding U.S. manufacturing, has named Gateway a charter member of the institute’s “M-List,” which recognizes schools that prepare workers to the level of industry standards in advanced manufacturing.

Gateway is the only charter member in Wisconsin to receive the honor, the college said.

The list recognizes programs that are aligned with industry standards and that award students with credentials in the “NAM-Endorsed Manufacturing Skills Certification System.”

“With such a trusted standard, it takes the guesswork out of hiring welders, machinists, production workers and other key positions that make manufacturing hum,” the institute said.

The list includes community colleges, technical schools, high schools, four-year colleges and universities.

EAA Business Relations Manager Holly Williams said of the new area, “College Park will highlight EAA’s commitment to education and youth by creating a venue that showcases aviation education programs and interactive exhibits.”

Over 15 Colleges and Universities will be represented at the E.I.Z., and they range from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University to Fox Valley Technical College as well as a number of state universities like Ohio State and Arizona State.

“I’m excited to have our aviation programs be part of College Park because it provides a one stop shopping center for prospective students to find the aviation training program that best fits their needs,” said Jared Huss, an aeronautics pilot instructor at Fox Valley Technical College. “Students can easily compare and contrast the many options they have in front of them and make the choice that’s best for their future.”

Some of the businesses that will be participating this year are Disney, the History Channel, the US Air Force, and American Airlines who is sponsoring College Park.

Captain Bart Roberts is a retired Navy pilot and Chief Pilot of Line Operations for American Airlines and he spoke to EAA on the company’s behalf.

“We jumped at the opportunity to be part of a venue with so many young, like-minded people,” he said. Roberts also noted that the recent decline in the industry has not “painted a picture of opportunity” within the aviation community and he said he thinks College Park will help encourage young people to follow their dreams and pursue careers in aviation.

In addition to collegiate and occupational networking, there will be plenty of fun to be had by the youngsters of College Park as well. Many of the displays will be interactive, including a video gaming promotion by Wargaming.net who will be launching their new game World of Warplanes in August.

EAA has also designated an area of the E.I.Z. as “The Quad” where college students can mingle and relax and discus s the events of the day. EAA has also scheduled its second annual College Mixer after last year’s success in which over 240 students attended. The Mixer will be Friday night from 6-8 within the College Park area and will provide a relaxed atmosphere for students to casually interact with one another as well as with potential employers and colleges.

The Education and Interactive Zone and College Park are sure to be popular stops for young people at EAA, and Capt. Roberts couldn’t have summed it up better.

“At College Park we are able to meet face to face with young people to generate interest and appreciation for not only American Airlines, but the entire aviation community,” he said. “And that’s what EAA is all about.”

My name is Jacky Meremable, and I am from Gros-morne, Haiti. I am studying Business Management at Northcentral Technical College.

When I graduated from high school, I was very concerned about continuing my education. Going to university in my country is not that easy, but somehow I got the chance to apply for a SEED (Scholarship for Education and Economic Development) scholarship, a program financed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and led by Georgetown University in Washington D.C.

To get the scholarship was not easy. There were about 390 applicants for only 26 scholarships. I passed through four different steps before I got selected. Scholars come to U.S. for two years to study in college, and after graduation go back home to make difference in their communities.

This experience is the most interesting chapter in my life so far. I have had a lot of opportunities to participate in important events, to learn new things and to take leadership roles on campus.

When I got here, I did not speak English, and I struggled with that for a while. Now I can understand when someone is talking to me, and I can make myself understood.

I have visited a lot of places in the United States and have attended some leadership conferences, including Urbana 12 and the Clinton Global Initiative Conference, both in Saint Louis. It was an awesome opportunity to meet many young leaders who want to make a difference in the world.

To top it all, I got this wonderful opportunity to intern with Youth Apprenticeship. I love it so much because it has given me so much experience talking to employers in the Wausau area.

These experiences will be very helpful because when I get back to my country, I am going to help children to go to school through my Community Action Plan Act-For-the-Future. I will open a sewing machine class so they will learn how to sew so they can be self-sustainable to pay for their own tuition.

To finish, all these amazing experiences would never have happened without the wonderful people living in Wausau. I have to thank my host family, Mike and Deb Roberts; the staff in the international office at NTC, Chris Knight, Michelle Lindell, Ellen Anderson, Julie Murphy, Kathleen Vautour; and my English teachers, Kathy Stamos and Nancy Gallagher. I also have to thank all the people who inspired me: Georgina Tegart, Donna Schulz, Dave Hartman.

On behalf of my classmates, I have to thank all the host families and friends who have supported us a lot, and all the organizations that gave us community service opportunities. Without those people, our stay in the States would never be that great.

The Madison College engineering students were tasked with developing a system that was capable of blending biodiesel with petro-diesel and fuel additives for improved performance in extreme seasonal temperatures. The students also had to design around safety, transportability, power and budget constraints. Apache was one of several equipment manufacturers to donate components to the project.

“Apache is committed to build strong community ties where we live, work and go to school,” says Ed Paradowski, Apache President, “being part of this project not only helps Madison College engineering students, it also helps with the overall promotion of education in the field of fabrication and manufacturing.”

As a group, students engineered the blending system from start to finish. Apache supplied a 60 gallon, pickle passivated stainless tank with a vent fitting according their their design and specifications. The welding, fabrication, plumbing and electrical was all accomplished by the engineering students at Madison College.

Apache serves the biofuel industry with many types of specialized tanks, including: distillation columns, evaporators, ASME vessels, API-650 Vessels, clad vessels, custom mix tanks and storage tanks. The Apache facility in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin is fully equipped with machines and processes for shearing, forming, welding, rolling and in-house head making. The company also provides finishing capabilities, including automated mechanical polishing, electro-polishing and passivation. Another facility in Plover, Wisconsin produces carbon steel tanks and equipment.

The banquet recognized the completion of the paid-related classroom instruction for individuals in LTC’s apprenticeship programs, according to a news release. In those programs, workers earn while they learn the practical and theoretical aspects of highly skilled occupations. LTC’s registered apprentices are sponsored by employers and paid hourly wages to attend LTC in their specific trades.

Keynote speaker Reggie Newson, secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, recognized the apprenticeship completers and relayed his own personal experience as his mother works as a machinist and his father as a welder.

“Without apprentices, we wouldn’t have many of the modern conveniences we have today,” Newson said. “Apprentices have made things simple, convenient and have been driving innovation for years.”

Apprentices from Manitowoc County who were recognized at the banquet, including their apprenticeship area and sponsoring employer, are:

Francis Creek – Marshall Marquardt, carpenter (construction), Hamann Construction Co.;

Manitowoc – Russell Buretta, tool and die maker, LDI Industries; Eric Chase, machinist, KNM; Jason Hastreiter, machinist, HG Weber & Co.; Bruce Heimerman, maintenance mechanic, Federal Mogul Corp.; Matthew Heinzen, tool and die maker, Manitowoc Tool & Manufacturing; Brian Hetue, maintenance mechanic, PolyOne Corp.; Adam Korte, industrial electrician, Parker Hannifin Corp.; Daniel Luckow, machinist, Stecker Machine Co.; Jarek Ordiway, machinist, LDI Industries; Hayden Schmidt, machinist, Jagemann Stamping Co.; Paul Senn, maintenance mechanic, LDI Industries; Ryan Tollefson, sheet metal worker, Aldag Honold Mechanical; and

Whitelaw – Dennis Bratz, maintenance mechanic, Nemak.