SAN LUIS OBISPO — SLO Partners, one of the leading providers of apprenticeship programs in California, announced recently that its Precision Manufacturing bootcamp is now complete, with 22 graduates ready to hire. The bootcamp was scheduled to take place in person, but SLO Partners quickly adjusted the curriculum to shift part of the course online. Several protocols and procedures were implemented for the in-person lab component of the bootcamp to ensure the health and safety of students, staff and instructors. These included plexiglass barriers, room occupancy limit reductions, floor markers and regular disinfection of work stations and equipment.
“The manufacturing industry is really vibrant right now, especially as many of these businesses are doing essential work”, said Paula Mathias Fryer, Program Director at SLO Partners. “People might not be aware, but we have a strong manufacturing presence on the Central Coast with a lot of job opportunities. We had businesses that were keen to hire from us before the bootcamp had even started.”
“The Precision Manufacturing Bootcamp opened up a lot of career opportunities for me”, said Ariel Rasgado, Precision Manufacturing Bootcamp Graduate. “I didn’t realize how many manufacturing companies were in the area and that they were hiring.”
“A lot of local businesses in the manufacturing industry are looking to hire so there’s a great need for qualified candidates”, said Daniel Lehmkuhl, Operations Manager at Injectors Direct. “This program provides students with the skills needed to go straight into the workforce and bring value right off the bat. This fast tracks the on-the-job training process and is a huge benefit to employers.”
The online portion of the Precision Manufacturing bootcamp trained students in OSHA workplace safety, print reading, shop mathematics and measuring, as well as lean principles in manufacturing. The in-person component included the assembly of a tabletop CnC router and 3D printer, project design and execution, the creation of an assembly and tear down guide for CnC router, robotic arm/mechatronics, and creating code to program an arduino project. Throughout the course, the students were in constant motion and challenged with several problems simultaneously throughout each module, while sharpening their troubleshooting and communication skills.
“Thanks to Cal Poly we have an enormous number of qualified college educated engineers, but when you need people that can really work on machines and get their hands dirty to make products, there’s a really small number of people who can do that in the County”, said Ryan Dunn, CEO and Co-Founder of Mantis Deposits. “SLO Partners has enabled us to find and work with talent that really fills this critical area.”
“We’re at a time where manufacturing has never been more important to the United States, so having a workforce that’s ready to come in and start doing things on day one is beyond valuable,” said Ty Safrino, CEO of Trust Automation. “The program really gives people a leg up in this area to get started in manufacturing. We’ve been very successful with the candidates we’ve gotten from SLO Partners. The program takes people with the base skills that are needed for an advanced manufacturing career and then exposes them to the terminology and tools needed for a business like us which is exactly what we need.”
For more information about hiring an apprentice contact info@SLOParters.org.
