Positronic apprenticeship program honored

Positronic Industries' nearly 20-year-old apprenticeship program was last month recognized by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training as part of Registered Apprenticeship Awareness Month.

Mike Smith, who heads the local office of the Department of Labor's Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training, said Positronic is one of few local companies, and the only local manufacturer, with a registered apprenticeship program.

"To become registered, companies must have a set of developed training standards for their programs. The Springfield Police Department and the Greene County Sheriff's Department have registered apprenticeship programs, as well as Prime (Inc.) and some of the upscale restaurants, like Le Mirabelle and Clary's," Smith said.

He said Positronic's apprenticeship program is one of the best known and oldest in the area.

"They've got nine occupations and are the only one in the area that's instituted a youth apprenticeship program ... that many occupations under one set of apprenticeship standards is pretty rare for this area. Most programs only cover one or two occupations," Smith said.

U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexis M. Herman designated October as Registered Apprenticeship Awareness Month to increase awareness and support for registered apprenticeship training and how apprenticeship meets the needs for a skilled work force.

Positronic's apprenticeship program, which began in the tool and die and machinist department at the company's Rogersville facility in 1981, now employs 63 registered apprentices and in 1996 began offering a pre-apprenticeship program for high school students. The company invests more than $250,000 per year in its apprenticeship program, in addition to the funding the state and federal governments provide, according to Positronic President John Gentry.

"Back in 1993, we decided we needed to take a good, hard look at education for employees. The job market started becoming tight, we had some turnover in important areas, and we thought that one way to retain employees was to give them better training and skills," Gentry said.

Gentry said Positronic expanded its apprenticeship program that year to cover nine areas of training at the company, which include cutting metal, water treatment and purification, electroplating and plastic molding.

"In order to be considered for employment here, employees must agree to pursue an apprenticeship program in one of the nine areas," Gentry said.

He said depending on the program, an apprenticeship at Positronic could last from one year to four years. Most programs there are two to three years in duration.

Each apprenticeship program has two phases a minimum of 2,000 hours of on-the-job training, and classroom training at Ozarks Technical Community College. Apprentices also attend specialized classes at Positronic.

"The classroom training that takes place here is taught by department heads and supervisors who are highly skilled in that area and can teach very specific aspects that go beyond what OTC's coursework provides," Gentry said.

Rita Needham, Positronic's manager of public relations and education programs, said statistics from the Department of Labor predict that by 2005, of all new jobs created, 80 percent will require advanced technical skills training. Because of these statistics, Needham said Positronic's pre-apprenticeship program for high school students is a valuable source of job training for young people.

"We're the only company in the area that has a youth program associated with an apprenticeship program," Needham said.

Gentry said the pre-apprenticeship students are paid hourly and receive cooperative education credit for the part-time jobs they work at Positronic during the school year, which become full-time during the summer.

"If they like what they're doing, when they graduate, then they have an opportunity to apply for full-time work," Needham said. "It benefits both of us Êthey have a full-time job and apprenticeship program to move into, and we have a new employee that has a lot more knowledge and experience right off the bat."

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