Apprenticing In Sunny Florida

Modern Machine Shop, Nov, 2001 by Katherine A. Kelley

This month we have another edition of "how companies are overcoming the labor shortage problem." Hudson Tool & Die Company (Ormond Beach, Florida) has started an apprenticeship program because of the critical shortage of professional machine tradespeople.

The 60-year-old company recently partnered with the U.S. Department of Labor, Daytona Beach Community College and two other Volusia County companies to develop the East Central Florida Machine Trades Apprenticeship Program. It provides training for journeyman licensing in specific trades, including tool and die maker, moldmaker, precision machinist and machine builder/repair.

The program is open to anyone who is at least 18 years old, has a high school diploma or GED equivalency, has completed a course in algebra and shows an interest in mechanical things. The applicants are selected through an interviewing process. The apprentices are required to complete 8,000 hours (4 years) of on-the-job training at one of the sponsoring companies. First year students are placed in a local factory earning $8 per hour and have a mentor to supervise training. After 6 months of satisfactory work, they receive a pay increase of $0.50, and raises continue every 6 months until they reach $12 per hour. Additionally, at least 144 hours of classroom study is required each year and is provided through DBCC free of charge to the student. Upon completion of the program, apprentices will receive a nationally recognized "Certificate of Apprenticeship" endorsed by the U.S. Department of Labor, the sponsor company and DBCC. The program's first class will graduate in June 2002.