EVERETT — At a Paine Field training center, it’s not unusual for students to go from slinging coffee at an espresso stand to building airplanes in less than four months.
“We can literally take someone from being a barista to an assembly mechanic, electrical assembler or composite technician in just 12 weeks,” said Larry Cluphf, executive director of the Advanced Manufacturing Skills Center, an Edmonds College facility.
For graduates who complete one of the center’s certificate programs, it can also mean going from minimum wage to living wage, Cluphf said.
“We just had a student get hired for $22 an hour,” he said. “When the employer found out he went through our program, they bumped him up to $26 an hour.”
Each year the manufacturing center, which includes the Washington Aerospace Training & Research Center, graduates about 300 students.
More than half are hired by Boeing. The remainder are snapped up by the area’s 150 aerospace suppliers, Cluphf said.
With the help of a new partner, the center hopes to add another 200 students to the yearly total.
Edmonds College, which runs the center, will participate in a new, three-year pilot program sponsored by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, a national nonprofit that’s been around since 1932.
Its aim? To dramatically increase the nation’s manufacturing workforce.
‘How much a skilled workforce is needed’
Edmonds College is one of 25 U.S. colleges — and the only West Coast institution — to be selected for the group’s Manufacturing Imperative — Workforce Pipeline Challenge.
On Wednesday, college and nonprofit officials toured the 33,000-square-foot training center at Paine Field.
“We all know how much a skilled workforce is needed in this country for manufacturing … and they are trying to help fill that void,” Edmonds College President Amit Singh told a gathering of about 20 people.
The gap is growing.
By 2030, nearly 3 million manufacturing jobs will go unfilled, unless more are trained, said Deb Volzer, who manages the Society of Manufacturing Engineers program.
“You can have all the great technology and innovation, but if you don’t have the workforce, you have a disconnect,” Volzer said.
Combining the society’s expertise with community colleges, known for their accessibility, is one way to reach thousands more, including young adults, women and people of color — who want a skilled job but don’t know where to start, she said.
The Pipeline Challenge is asking each of the 25 colleges to train 1,000 new people per year for manufacturing careers. That’s 75,000 new workers during the three-year program. Site visits, brainstorming sessions, progress reports and quarterly gatherings are all part of a strategy to boost the numbers, Volzer said.
For Edmonds College, the first step is finding out the needs of “our industry partners,” like what jobs they want to fill and what skills are needed, Singh said.
‘Manufacturing is clean’
At the Everett center, it starts with dispelling outdated ideas.
“When you think about manufacturing, a lot of people see it as kind of a dirty job,” Cluphf said. “Our job is to educate them and show them that manufacturing is clean. These are great-paying jobs.”
AMSC Executive Director Larry Cluphf points out specific aspects in a training area during a press conference and tour at the Washington Aerospace Training and Research Center on Wednesday, March 6, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Inside the facility, students learn to build airplane structures, bundle and connect miles of electrical wire as well as practice detailed assembly work.
Students train on the same type of equipment they’ll use on the job.
“Everything here is set up as if you were in the job,” Cluphf said.
Students are badged. They are expected to be on time and treat each other with respect.
They put in a full day, Cluphf said. Other programs might offer instruction for an hour or two a day.
“Here, it’s eight hours a day. Here, we want them to physically feel what it is like to do that job,” he said.
For the ultimate in on-the-job realism, step outside and climb the stairs to view the center’s latest addition, the back half of a Boeing 767 fuselage.
The 12-ton section was a gift last year from Boeing. It’s being outfitted to serve as a hands-on training lab.
The training center’s four-week manufacturing core class is the only prerequisite. Complete it, and then choose an eight-week specialty course. Total tuition: $5,700.
It also offers a tuition-free, pre-apprenticeship construction program.
“It’s four weeks long and it’s free,” Cluphf said.
The course is designed to help people qualify for specialized construction apprenticeships.
“A lot of people have never even handled any type of hand tool or measuring tools,” Cluphf said.
This program will teach them.
As part of the construction program, the center has partnered with Seattle’s Low Income Housing Institute to build tiny homes to help alleviate homelessness.
“Our students have already built and donated three houses,” said Singh, the Edmonds College president.
Established in 2010, the Advanced Manufacturing Skills Center currently offers five aerospace-related programs. Later this year, it plans to add a maritime manufacturing program and a robotics technician course.
For more information or to attend a free walk-in tour, go to amsc.edmonds.edu.
Janice Podsada: 425-339-3097; jpodsada@heraldnet.com;
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