New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
Training program returns at Gateway
The Skill Up for Manufacturing training program has resumed its training sessions after being sidelined since mid-March because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The five-week program, which takes unemployed and underemployed workers and teaches them manufacturing skills, resumed classes July 6, according to William Villano, president and chief executive officer of Workforce Alliance. A total of 17 Skill Up students returned to Gateway Community College to begin their remaining four weeks of classes, Villano said.
The program’s pre-apprentice students also will be using shop equipment and facilities at Eli Whitney Technical
High School in Hamden for practical skills training.
The program is overseen by Workforce Alliance, which is based in New Haven.
Members of this group of pre-apprentice students will join the workforce as machine operators, machine maintenance mechanics, quality inspectors and press assistants.
Approximately 100 students will have graduated from the free training program since February 2019, Villano said. About 70 have found jobs, he said.
Coursework for Skill Up is developed in coordination with participating manufacturers. It is designed to bring together employers with pre-apprentice candidates to fill the more than 13,000 manufacturing industry openings in Connecticut.
Villano said some manufacturers in the state have retooled their factories to produce personal protective equipment during the pandemic, while other have seen some decline of business activity.
“We’re just waiting to see where the demand is going to be going forward,” he said.
Employers have utilized funding attached to the
Skill Up program as incentive to hire Skill Up graduates for positions where additional training is required.
Villano said there currently are plans for another Skill Up class to be launched in the fall, as well as a class at Middlesex Community College in Middeltown that will focus on plastics manufacturing.
Workforce Alliance is the policy and oversight organization responsible for creating a comprehensive, communitywide response for building a highly skilled workforce in 30 towns in the New Haven area.
Manufacturers interested in learning more about the program and participating in recruiting events can call 203-867-4030, ext. 233.