June 2, 2022
By Michele Miller
What’s What New Port Richey
Pete Fair isn’t ready to retire.
Unfortunately, it’s not all that easy finding something that’s up your ally in the fulfilling way you come to yearn for when you’re getting on in years. That’s if you can get an interview or past the question he had been hearing, “So, what have you done lately?”
“No one has any use for a 65-year-old electrical engineer,” Fair lamented while reflecting on a career that included a lengthy stint in the IT world before he was laid off in 1998. After that he spent 13 years working for an email consultant business. When the company was purchased he was out of a job again. His last stint was at Lowes but Fair, who has his pilot’s license, was looking to find something different -“maybe something in aerospace.”
So when the AmSkills Career Discovery Bootcamp flyer posted on a wall at the Pasco County Tax Office caught his eye, Fair figured he would take them up on it thinking that it might help update and pad his resume.
Signing up with AmSkills was “a no-brainer,” he said while working through the intricacies of assembling a drive shaft for a robotic arm alongside Derrell Myers. “And it’s free!”
Fair and Myers had been paired as partners to complete a variety of tasks and projects during the two-week mobile bootcamp being held in a back storage room at the Lighthouse for the Visually Impaired and Blind in New Port Richey.
Myers, 40, is a Navy veteran working his way through Steps To Recovery, a 501(c)(3) program that serves the poor, the disabled and military veterans. He served as a cook during his 4-year term and worked at various jobs in the hospitality field since. Now he was discovering he had a knack for soldering.
“It’s going good,” he said. “It’s a little challenging, but it’s good.”
Like Fair and Myers, those who attend AmSkills programs come from all walks of life, said Master Instructor, Jeff Cole. “There is so much diversity, so many life stories, some of them rougher than others.”
Some attendees are fresh out of high school. All are required to have a diploma or GED. Some have been laid off. Others already have a job but are looking for something different.
The most recent bootcamp included a hearing-impaired client for the Lighthouse, who completed the program with the help of an interpreter. (Read the press release here). That inclusion is a real boon, according to Jennifer Hess, Executive Director of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services of Florida, Inc., in that 75 percent of the deaf community is unemployed or underemployed and manufacturing can be an ideal industry for the deaf and hard of hearing.
Serving the individual is first and foremost, said AmSkills CEO and president, Tom Mudano, while addressing a group of manufacturers and service organization representatives that had been invited to a VIP information session.
“It’s a real investment of their time,” he said, noting that participants attend a one-day program to test the waters before committing to two weeks of hands-on instruction. AmSkills purposefully recruits within a radius where manufacturers are located so people can be employed close to home, he said, noting that staff and equipment are brought to facilities that donate space.
Believe it or not, the Tampa Bay area has the most manufacturing jobs in the state of Florida, Mudano said. The problem is that many potential job applicants don’t know what manufacturing is in today’s world and they lack the basic soft and technical skills to qualify for an entry-level position.
AmSkills, founded in 2014, seeks to bridge that gap with a mission, outlined on its website, to “transform lives and build communities through workforce training and apprenticeships.”
The program started as an economic development and workforce training initiative for the manufacturing industry in Pinellas, Pasco and Hernando Counties and transitioned to a nonprofit 501(c)(3) in 2017.
Initially, about 10 manufacturers came on board, Mudano said. “Now we’re up to 50.”
Among local manufacturing companies are Pall Aeropower Corp., Tru Simulation, Mettler-Toledo, Chromalloy, Pharmaworks and II-VI Optical Systems.
While the goal is finding what will hopefully lead to a career rather than just a job, the AmSkills curriculum is modeled on the needs of manufacturers in filling entry-level positions. Participants tackle multiple hands-on projects such as blueprint and measurement reading, soldering, and robotics, as well as resume and interview coaching. Those who successfully complete the boot camp also receive OSHA certification and a certificate of completion.
PHOTO | MICHELE MILLER
They also get a potential foot in the door with “speed dating” job interviews that could land a second interview and potentially lead to an official offer.
In April, AmSkills sent out a press release announcing a hefty financial boost with a $3 million earmark from the recently passed federal budget. That funding will help establish firmer roots in the Pasco community with the renovation of a 13,600 square foot facility in Holiday.
According to the press release, that money will provide hands-on workshops, a 3-D printing lab, forklift and welding simulators, robotics training, an outdoor maker space pavilion, and AmSkills administrative offices. Career Discovery Bootcamps similar to the mobile camps will also be housed there, as well as the Pasco Economic Development Council’s SMARTstart program, which offers assistance to up-and-coming entrepreneurs.
There’s also an intent to expand training into the construction industry, Mudano said, noting that AmSkills is furthering its reach with an additional mobile unit funded by a Department of Labor grant.
The expansion of the mobile program is good news for James S. Moore, Director of Operations at Cardio Command, Inc. in Tampa.
“Like most manufacturers, we are competing for talent,” Moore said, noting that his company reaches out to staffing firms, CareerSource, and local colleges and trade schools. “It’s still a challenge to get good candidates.”
While the program has been making headway in Pasco and Pinellas Counties, many of those potential employees might find it a hardship to commute to Tampa for a $14 to $16 an hour job,” he said.
Bringing the program to Tampa will change that dynamic.
In Pasco, AmSkills is also forging a presence in local schools and currently provides curriculum and a teacher for a Manufacturing Academy/Pre-Apprenticeship Program at Anclote High School, a Cambridge International and Title 1 designated school in Holiday with a high percentage of low-income families.
“We want to provide high school kids the chance to explore these careers,” Mudano said.
PHOTO | MICHELE MILLER
Thirteen applicants attended the most recent bootcamp in Port Richey. As of May 19, some 50 applicants had signed up for the next session to be held in June in Tampa, according to Master Instructor, Jeff Cole.
Cole, a Michigan transplant, spent a career working in high-tech fields that included working with flight simulators, semiconductor plasma processing equipment, and building a supercomputer for tracking incoming ballistic missiles and disabling them.
“I like to tell people that I’ve spent 40 years training for this job. I have vast experience in all different kinds of fields and that knowledge is being put to use at AmSkills,” he said.
There are no doubt several success stories, but Cole has one particular favorite.
“There was a gentleman named William. He walked in on workshop day, came up to the robotics station, looked at the robot and looks at the instructions, and then he pulls me aside and says, “I can’t do it. I have a lot of anxiety issues and I just can’t do this one.”
I told him, “I only expect one thing from you in this session, and that is for you to have fun.”
“He tried it and ended up building the robot. When we tried it out, William about jumped out of his skin and said, “It moved, Jeff – I made it move!”
“This is definitely a feel-good job.”
NOTE: Bootcamps are being scheduled almost every month. They are mobile and are offered in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Hernando counties. If you are interested in attending an upcoming workshop, visit www.amskills.org or call (727) 301-1282 ext. 126 to register. Seats are limited, but reservations will be accepted until all available spots are filled.
Related
- AmSkills closer to moving into permanent location, supporting manufacturing industry, Suncoast News (May 4, 2022.)
- Here’s which Tampa Bay projects got federal funding from the $1.5 trillion bill, Tampa Bay Times (March 18, 2022)
- News Bites | AMSkills Manufacturing Bootcamp opens doors to new possibilities – AMSkills press releases What’s What New Port Richey, May 2022
Fast Facts
Source: AmSkills
- In 2021, 89% of the people that participated in AmSkills boot camps were hired by a local manufacturer. 80% of those hired are still working.
Source: National Association of Manufacturers
- There are 12,557 manufacturers in the state of Florida (2017)
- In 2020, manufacturing workers in the United States earned $92,832 on average, including pay and benefits.
- Manufacturers help to drive Florida’s economy, with $41.99 billion in manufactured goods exports in 2020.
- For every $1.00 spent in manufacturing, another $2.79 is added to the economy. That is the highest multiplier effect of any economic sector.
- For every worker in manufacturing, there are another five employees hired elsewhere. For every $1 earned in direct labor income in the manufacturing sector, there will be another $3.14 in labor income earned elsewhere, including indirect and induced impacts.
- The majority of manufacturing firms in the United States are quite small (fewer than 500 employees).
- There were 856,000 manufacturing job openings in December 2021.
- Over the next decade, 4 million manufacturing jobs will likely be needed, and 2.1 million are expected to go unfilled if we do not inspire more people to pursue modern manufacturing careers. Moreover, according to a recent report, the cost of those missing jobs could potentially total $1 trillion in 2030 alone. (Source: Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute)
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