Massachusetts MEP: Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 19, 2007

For more information please contact:
Jack Healy
MassMEP
Tel: 508-831-7020

M.O.S.T. TRAINING PAYS OFF FOR PALMER
MassMEP Brings Mobile Skills Training Program to Malden Manufacturer, Fills Highly Skilled Job Openings

MALDEN, MA - Palmer Manufacturing, headquartered in Malden, is a company that is growing rapidly and is one of the leading suppliers in the aerospace/aircraft engine components field. Although already one of the top employers in Malden, the company was looking for skilled machine operators to support an expansion in their business. As many manufacturing companies throughout the country already know, it can be difficult finding workers with the necessary skills and knowledge to jump right into an operation.

“We wanted to hire for positions in several areas, but weren’t sure where to start in terms of recruitment,” said Pete Cirak, Senior Quality Engineer at Palmer. “I had heard about the M.O.S.T. (Machine Operators Skills Training) program, where a mobile training unit would come to us and help equip new workers with necessary job skills. So I contacted Ted Bauer from the Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MassMEP). I visited a training already taking place in Rhode Island, and immediately set up a M.O.S.T training for our company.”

Funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, six New England divisions of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, including MassMEP, administer the M.O.S.T. program. The program is free, and uses a mobile training unit to train nontraditional and out-of-work individuals, helping local manufacturers fill vacant job positions. The training program is conducted in two phases. In Phase One, trainees participate in an intensive 80-hour basic operator skills training process, which is followed by Phase Two, a 60 day on-the-job training process.

“Palmer hired five candidates from the Phase One training and they all successfully completed the on-the-job training,” said Ted Bauer, M.O.S.T. Machining Program Coordinator for the six New England States. “What M.O.S.T. does is provides both parties, the employer and potential employees, with an invaluable service. The employer gets to review a candidate’s scores upon completion of the Phase One training and get a sense of an employee’s potential. The trainees are provided with some critical foundation skills making them more comfortable starting out on the shop floor and minimizing potential damage to expensive equipment. Additionally, the trainees, many of whom have little manufacturing experience, get a flavor for what the job will be like.”

“We are very happy the MassMEP was able to help us find and train these workers who are now integral to our production process,” adds Cirak. “We would certainly use the MassMEP again if we plan on hiring in the future.”

Palmer Manufacturing has built a solid reputation as a company for machining highly complex, close-tolerance parts and assemblies with the highest standard of quality and delivery. Beginning in the aerospace/aircraft engine components field, they have grown into a leading supplier for critical hardware and support. For more information, visit www.palmermfgco.com.

The MassMEP is an affiliate of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) under the U.S. Department of Commerce. The national MEP system is a network of manufacturing extension centers that provide business and technical assistance to smaller manufacturers in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Through MEP, manufacturers have access to more than 2,000 manufacturing and business “coaches” whose job is to help firms make changes that lead to greater productivity, increased profits and enhanced global competitiveness. For more information, please visit www.massmep.org, or phone 1-800-MEP-4MFG.

-END-

####