Tech, packaging company honored

The Arkansas Tech University-Ozark Campus and Green Bay Packaging, Arkansas Kraft Division are 2020 recipients of the National Council for Workforce Education Noncredit Exemplary Program Award.

The honor recognizes a collaboration that has provided more than 1,000 employees from about 60 Arkansas companies with training.

In 2008, Green Bay Packaging converted a shuttered Levi’s manufacturing plant in Morrilton into a workforce education facility. ATU-Ozark became its academic partner.

ATU-Ozark recruits the outside companies that use the training center, handles registrations, supports curriculum development, orders instructional material, markets the training center and serves as the sole higher educational partner in the training.

Green Bay Packaging, which owns most of the equipment and building, places two of its highly skilled employees in the role of instructor.

Electrical courses taught at the Green Bay Packaging training center include Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC) Level 1/Intro, PLC Level 2, Basic Electricity/Electronics, Intermediate Electrical/Basic AC Control Equipment, Electrical Troubleshooting, Batteries and DC Circuits, Advanced Electrical/ Transformers and AC Circuits, Three-Phase Systems, Reading Technical Diagrams and Electrical Measuring Instruments.

The facility offers mechanical courses in Bearings and Lubrication, Maintenance of Mechanical Drives, Precision/ Laser Alignment, Introduction to Hydraulics, Pump Systems, Introduction to Blueprint Reading, Mechanical Layout, Machine Shop Practices and Millwright Practices.

Certain days each week are designated for the training of Green Bay Packaging employees. Other days are reserved for providing the training to additional industry partners around the state.

More information is available from www.atu.edu/ozark/businessandcommunityoutreach.