{"id":3422,"date":"2018-09-24T08:00:56","date_gmt":"2018-09-24T08:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=3422"},"modified":"2018-09-20T20:11:34","modified_gmt":"2018-09-20T20:11:34","slug":"tstc-twc-partnership-provides-manufacturing-training-for-local-companies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=3422","title":{"rendered":"TSTC, TWC partnership provides manufacturing training for local companies"},"content":{"rendered":"

(HARLINGEN) – Michael Durant, a mechatronics tool and die maker at AdTech Plastic Technology in Harlingen has not been in a classroom since the 1980\u2019s, but thanks to a partnership between Texas State Technical College and the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) he is back and ready to learn.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love learning. You\u2019re never too old to learn,\u201d said the 49-year-old sitting in industrial math. \u201cIt feels great to be back and I\u2019m excited for this opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Durant and others from Fox Valley Molding and Aloe Laboratories in Harlingen and Sauceda\u2019s Precision Grinding in San Benito make up a Harlingen Consortium that was recently awarded a $155,721 Skills Development Fund Grant for a full year of training.<\/p>\n

TSTC\u2019s Workforce Development and Continuing Education Executive Director Isidro Ramos said training provided by the TWC is crucial for companies, especially those with less than 100 employees.<\/p>\n

\u201cTechnology is constantly evolving and it\u2019s important for companies to keep their employees up to date,\u201d said Ramos. \u201cIt\u2019s a competitive industry and to remain competitive and keep production high, training is a priority.\u201d<\/p>\n

David Blackburn, Fox Valley Molding general manager, who has participated in other TSTC trainings in the past, said continual training is crucial. He will be sending various employees from the tool shop and maintenance to TSTC.\"TSTC<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve always had a great experience with TSTC. It\u2019s always a great learning experience for my employees,\u201d said Blackburn. \u201cSo when this opportunity became available, we couldn\u2019t pass it up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve personally seen skill sets improve, employees gain a better scope and understanding of their work and our production increase,\u201d he added. \u201cSo I\u2019m looking forward to seeing what we\u2019ll gain at the end of this training.\u201d<\/p>\n

Employees from the four companies that make up the consortium began training this month and will take classes such as basic blueprint reading, industrial math, basic supervision, programmable logic controls and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 10.<\/p>\n

All training is customized to the companies\u2019 needs and will be performed at TSTC and on-site.<\/p>\n

Nathan Hernandez, a toolmaker apprentice at Fox Valley Molding, sat in Industrial Math with Durant, and as a TSTC Precision Machining Technology grad, being in the classroom was d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu.<\/p>\n

\u201cKnowing that my professional development is important and being given this opportunity is appreciated,\u201d said the TSTC alum. \u201cI\u2019m hoping to learn as much as I can and I look forward to implementing what I learn into my daily work.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for Durant, who has been in the industry nearly three decades, he is excited to learn about new technologies and techniques.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just hoping to come out smarter than I came in,\u201d he said with a laugh. \u201cBut in all seriousness, a lot has changed in our field, and new technology is introduced constantly, so I\u2019m hoping to get myself up to speed on a lot of it with this training.\u201d<\/p>\n

TSTC has hosted other consortium trainings in the past thanks to Skill Development Fund Grants from the TWC with local manufacturing companies such as Saint-Gobain, Prism, Rich Products and Portage Plastics.<\/p>\n

\u201cEmployers look forward to these trainings,\u201d said Ramos. \u201cThis partnership is way for us to enhance our manufacturing industry and economic development, while providing quality training, which is our forte.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information on the courses and services offered by TSTC\u2019s Workforce Development and Continuing Education, call 956-364-4590 or visit tstc.edu\/workforce\/ce.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(HARLINGEN) – Michael Durant, a mechatronics tool and die maker at AdTech Plastic Technology in Harlingen has not been in a classroom since the 1980\u2019s, but thanks to a partnership between Texas State Technical College and the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) he is back and ready to learn. \u201cI love learning. You\u2019re never too old […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-harlingen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3422"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3422\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3424,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3422\/revisions\/3424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}