At left is Greenfield Community College’s Manufacturing Program Lead Instructor Caileb Milton, with five of his six students: Keith Johnson (Orange), Tyler Deyo (Surry, New Hampshire), Matthew Nichols (Athol), Alex Montanaro (Greenfield) and Mike Palumbo (Gill). Contributed photo
GREENFIELD — On May 19, six adult precision machining trainees participating in the Manufacturing Skills Initiative (MSI) at Greenfield Community College completed GCC’s 12-week computer-numerical-control (CNC) operator training program and entered a very hot job market, according to a press release. The graduates range in age from 23 to 51 and are shifting gears to start new careers in precision machining at BETE Fog Nozzle and Kennametal in Greenfield, G.S. Precision in Brattleboro, Vermont, and Abbot Medical in Westford. Five of them accepted offers ranging from $19 to $24.50 per hour before even completing the training.
These six MSI graduates are the latest of more than 200 students who have enrolled in the semester-long 240-hour CNC training since the program launched in 2013. MSI training helps career changers re-skill for jobs in advanced manufacturing. It begins with four weeks of classroom training in foundational manufacturing skills — industrial blueprint reading, precision measurement using calipers, micrometers and gages, OSHA safety and shop math, along with homework lessons using an online program called Tooling University. Those who complete the four-week foundational training are eligible to move on to an eight-week hands-on training in both manual and CNC machining. They use mills and lathes to cut and shape complex metal parts at the Franklin County Technical School’s machine shop.
The adult training program runs Monday to Thursday from 4 to 9 p.m. at Franklin Tech’s machine shop. After the high school day students are finished, the shop gets double duty training adults in the evenings on its state-of-the-art Haas CNC machines.
The next info session takes place on Monday, June 6, at 3 p.m. To sign up, participants can register at the GCC manufacturing page, gcc.mass.edu/manufacturing, or call the MassHire Franklin Hampshire Career Center at 413-774-4361.
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