TASUS Corp. employees (left to right) Dean Bernhard of Leander, Anthony Bunch of Jarrell and Leo Trigo of Hutto are studying industrial maintenance at Texas State Technical College’s East Williamson County Higher Education Center in Hutto.
(HUTTO) – The 15-minute drive from Texas State Technical College’s East Williamson County Higher Education Center in Hutto to TASUS Corp. in Georgetown is a path for employees to meet their educational and work training goals.
Eight employees at TASUS are currently attending TSTC and studying industrial maintenance. And, company leaders consider the college a pipeline to provide a need for maintenance technicians and workers to acquire the skills needed to receive increased work responsibilities.
Tracy Jackson, human resources manager for TASUS in Georgetown, said the company and college have a good relationship and hope it grows in the future.
“TSTC is helping to provide the educational knowledge for TASUS employees and has been a strong educational partner in our community,” Jackson said.
TASUS has more than 150 employees working three shifts in automotive injection molding, blow molding and extrusion molding. Some of the items that are shipped worldwide include vehicle visors, consoles and brackets. The company has been in Georgetown for a decade and is owned by Tsuchiya Co. Ltd. based in Nagoya, Japan.
Anthony Bunch, 29, of Jarrell is one of several TASUS employees who take advantage of the company paying a portion of college tuition to those studying in fields related to their work.
Bunch, a production operator, began attending TSTC a year and a half ago and discovered that he liked the hands-on course work.
“It always makes one a little nervous to see who you will meet and how it will all work out on the first day of class,” Bunch said.
Bunch has a goal of getting an associate degree at TSTC once he finishes the Industrial Maintenance Mechanic certificate.
“I wanted to go to TSTC to better myself and learn more,” Bunch said. “I have a 4.0 grade point average. The people at TSTC are great. I like how the teachers work with each individual student.”
Dean Bernhard, 48, of Leander has also kept up a 4.0 grade point average working on a certificate in Industrial Maintenance Mechanic. He is taking Motor Control and Industrial Power Plants during the fall semester.
“They have a really good program,” Bernhard said. “Almost everything is hands-on. You gain more doing it and it helps bring the formulas from the book and shows you what they are for. If you can’t do the work, the homework won’t do you any good.”
Bernhard has been a preventive maintenance administrator for more than two years at TASUS. His work includes opening and closing work tickets and reviewing orders for parts.
“Sometimes there is a sharp learning curve,” Bernhard said. “I watch and I ask a lot of questions.”
Leo Trigo, 48, of Hutto is a maintenance technician who has worked at TASUS for eight years and is taking night classes at TSTC in Williamson County to work on an associate degree in Industrial Maintenance – Mechanical Specialization. Trigo already has an Industrial Maintenance Mechanic certificate from TSTC.
Trigo graduated in 1985 from Hutto High School and was inspired by his children and observing a TSTC industrial maintenance class to consider returning to the classroom.
“With my age, about half the material was new to me,” Trigo said. “I had worked in manufacturing for 22 years before I started school, so I had seen a lot of the stuff we were working on in class. The Programmable Logic Controllers I class was new to me.”
TSTC offers associate degrees and certificates in Industrial Maintenance with concentrations in electrical and mechanical at campuses in Marshall, North Texas, Waco and Williamson County.