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moldmakingtechnology.com 47 Photo courtesy of M-TEC. Photo courtesy of Matrix Tooling, Inc. Electroform is ���always growing and looking for good people,��� Clark notes. With openings in every department, he admits that finding qualified employees is an ongoing challenge he faces and he has been bringing younger talent into the shop. He believes that today���s youth needs direction. ���It seems like a great deal of training stopped in the 80s,��� he affirms. ���There are young people out there looking for work, you just have to seek them out. As far as our trade, it���s a lot more demanding today with regards to delivery time, and there���s a lot lets tolerance for mistakes and that makes the hiring process more of a challenge. ���Fortunately I have a good pool of people to pull from,��� he continues. ���Not only do we rely Matrix Tooling, Inc. Apprentice Brandon McConnell works on CNC programming under the watchful on word-of-mouth, but we are located near eye of lead moldmaker Steve Groth. smaller farming communities, and it���s great to be in a manufacturing area where there is plenty of manufacturing ���genetics.��� If the father is a manufacturing kind of guy, chances are it runs in the family. We are able to find people here with an aptitude for manufacturing���and that is most important to us.��� Clark adds that the company picks up a few people each year, which helps Electroform���s ���slow but manageable��� growth. He plans on reaching out to local high school this year to potentially bring younger people on board to complement the skills of his ���veteran��� employees. ���My employees understand we need the younger generation with their computer skills,��� he emphasizes. ���They appreciate that, and respect the younger adults and the new energy they bring to the job. It is exciting for them to have the ability to pass on their skills. They know they are valued here and the younger genStudents from Lake Michigan College���s (LMC) MACH 140 Introduction to CNC Class using a CNC eration can���t replace them; rather they have lathe to program and make a chess set. complementary skills.��� CSTE���s Snow also relies on word-of-mouth to fill positions. ���Usually someone who works here knows somePrograms sidebar, page 48). ���This program provides people one who might fit our need,��� Snow notes. ���Currently, to find an easy way to gain entry-level skills that we want as manuan experienced CAD/CAM technician or moldmaker is very facturers,��� he states. ���It is an innovative way to solve the lack difficult. There isn���t an abundance of people looking to change of skilled trades��� applicants for growing companies in moldjobs with the current demand and those people who left the making and machining. ���automotive��� Michigan for another state are not moving back. Accu-Mold also works with a local high school���s (Vicksburg) We have been privileged to bring on some high school graduEducation for Employment Computerized Manufacturing ates as apprentices the past couple of years and continue to co-op. Senior Wyatt Van Fulpen, in his second year at Accuspread the word about opportunities in the moldmaking trade. Mold, attends this class and works part-time. According to We have also partnered with Expert Technical Training to help Martin, Van Fulpen loves working with the ���number one draft us with training our new employees.��� picks��� and 25 to 30 year journeymen at Accu-Mold. ���There Martin of Accu-Mold���s notes that his company has become is so much that is not in the book that we are downloading involved with local college Kalamazoo Valley Community and young people should take advantage of it,��� Van Fulpen College���s fast track training program (see Fast Track enthuses. ���I get to work day shift in an air-conditioned atmo-