Cutting Dynamics is partnering with LCCC to create an apprenticeship program through state TechCred funding

Cutting Dynamics, an Avon metal fabrication and precision machining company, has long considered Lorain County Community College a partner.

From attending job fairs to hosting meetups on campus, the company’s human resources manager, Angela Carpenter, says the college has a “constant presence.”

Now, the company’s partnership with LCCC is even deeper as Cutting Dynamics enters the second year of a new apprenticeship program leveraging Ohio’s TechCred offering.

TechCred provides funding to employers to improve their workforce, and LCCC is a state-recognized training provider with programs and credentials in information technology, engineering, healthcare and manufacturing.

Cutting Dynamics allocates funds for a CNC machining apprenticeship program.

“We wanted additional educational enrichment for our employees, and TechCred is a wonderful ROI opportunity,” says Carpenter. “We had employees who were already going to college on their own, but we wanted to give them an organized program to attend to enrich their already vast knowledge of mechanics.”

Cody Gibson, 35, has worked at Cutting Dynamics for nearly 20 years, starting just before graduating from JVS in Lorain County with a certificate in precision machining.

Since then, Gibson, who lives in Oberlin, has advanced from a teenage general laborer to his current role as a CNC fitter and operator.

“My job involves setting up different processes on different machines to get a finished product, from medical to aerospace to automotive,” says Gibson.

Two decades in the industry make Gibson a seasoned employee.

But, he says the apprenticeship program further expanded his skill set, introducing him to AutoCAD, mechanical drawing and reading industrial blueprints.

Methodology

The program gave Gibson insight into the methodology behind some of the tasks he was already doing.

“A lot of the courses apply directly to what I do every day,” he says. “Being shown how to do something in the workplace is different from learning why those steps are taken.”

Meticulous correlation between course syllabus and work assignments is a hallmark of LCCC’s apprenticeship programs.

And once Gibson and his fellow apprentices complete the program and achieve journeyman status, their career possibilities expand.

“It’s an advance over the normal processing path. It’s another level,” says Carpenter. “The apprenticeship path has more steps, but it allows them to open up their options – to be foremen, to be supervisors, to be trainers.

“It opens a lot of doors that might have been a little harder to open otherwise.”

Gibson, a husband and father of two, aims to become a coach one day.

And while adding apprenticeships to his already demanding work and home life has been difficult, seeing the value added every day has provided short-term goals that make the long-term goal of journeyman status seem more reached.

And, he says the entire process was made easier by a supportive employer and attentive LCCC advisor in Michelle Pawlak.

“It’s extremely helpful to have an advisor guide you through the process, especially because I’m an older student,” says Gibson.

LCCC counselors aim to meet with students while they are at work or on campus, making the most of their time and streamlining the admissions and registration processes.

Visits include on-site delivery of textbooks and course materials.

Carpenter says it’s a small benefit with a big impact.

“Our employees work 10-hour shifts and raise families,” she says. “Not having to do those extra commissions means so much. It’s more than just “Hey, here’s your book.”

“It’s part of their commitment to a team process.”

Cassandra Tenorio, program developer for LCCC Business Growth Services, says the department strives to meet the needs of local employers and their employees by adapting their processes to meet them where they are.

“Business Growth Services staff are always ready and willing to help our employers navigate their training needs and funding streams to support those needs,” says Tenorio. “And with state initiatives like TechCred, the opportunities are endless.”

Carpenter agrees.

And she’s so confident in the success of this first program that she’s already exploring those endless opportunities, including launching more apprenticeship programs with LCCC.

“It’s going to keep growing from here,” says Carpenter. “We have other avenues that we would like to open depending on the interests of some of our workers.

“We’re going to open up those avenues and continue to grow.”

Manufacturing employers interested in learning more about TechCred at LCCC can contact [email protected].