Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI)

- Hi, I'm Jim Thomson, Program Coordinator. - I am an instructor in the Fast Track to CNC Manufacturing here at CCRI in Providence, Rhode Island. - So I wanted to give back and one of the things I wanted to do is get more involved in the workforce development helping people pivot, maybe change careers. Something that was really personal to me was people finding something that they're passionate about, and I think we do that often here through the program. - I started when I was 16 years old cleaning out screw machines. And I enjoyed that. I got involved in the industrial arts program in high school. at a local manufacturer and became a tool maker at that point. - I feel like the skills that I've developed here just this one machine over the past couple of weeks, I can go to the employer and I can pretty much make any cut they need me to make. - You talk about manufacturing, they don't know what you're talking about. They don't know. They probably think it's sweeping the floors, something like that. They have no idea what is a manufacturing jobs is. So that's why programs like this help. They open people's eyes and let them know oh no, it's not only for men or it's not only for this. Woman can run any machines too. They can do anything that a man can do in a manufacturing company. - For me growing up, the concept of a factory was in the old black and white movies and everybody was covered in grease and oil and tripping over things on the floor and so on. Whether that was just a part of the way they used to film things and set it up, I don't know, but it stuck. The real world of manufacturing is strict codes and rules and regulations to cleanliness and being organized and safety. Safety is real big. - As a boxer, that's my life, that's my career that I worked before I become a machinist, and a machinist, they got a lot of stuff in common. Like let's say in boxing. If you go to a fight and you're not training, you're going to get hurt big time. You're going to lose your fight and you're going to get hurt. As a machinist, if you don't learn the safety issues, the safety by OSHA and you don't follow the safety, you're going to get hurt, too. You're going to get hurt. - In the manufacturing field, the skills that you pick up in the machine shop are transferrable throughout most industries, whether it be aerospace, whether it be medical, agriculture, pretty much everything is manufactured. And you learn these skills on basic machinery like this one here. - It's more so definitely precise with measurements. You have to be very good at math to be a manufacturist. And you have to apply yourself. There's no such thing as rushing from what I learned on the company tours that we've been on. They don't really like you to rush. They want you to be precise. - They just want basic skills. They want to know what the employees know what a cutting tool is, what a milling machine is, what a surface grinder is, what a lathe is. Just basic skills. Basic math skills. - Well what community colleges really are, when they're doing their job, they really are of the community. They're working hand in hand with employers to understand their labor market needs. They're keeping a real pulse on the trends and are able to tailor trainings accordingly. it's geometric dimensioning and tolerances, and machine processes. maybe 25, 30 hours a week. Every other week, they're job shadowing. - To get into this program, you have to be 18 years old, you have to be a resident of the State of Rhode Island, and you have to be a U.S. citizen. There's an interview process, there's a mechanical aptitude test when you come in. When they enter the program, there's attendance requirements. is stay off your cellphone. - Then we have what's called an information session. And during that information session there is an in-person interview there, as well, and we also do a mechanical aptitude test in the shop. and we also do a mechanical aptitude test in the shop. - You can go into engineering, - You can go into engineering, you can go into quality control, you can go into quality control, you can be a toolmaker, a CNC machinist. you can be a toolmaker, a CNC machinist. The opportunities are endless. The compensation is very good. The compensation is very good. There's good benefits. There's good benefits. And it's a year-round job. And it's a year-round job. - Five years from now I see myself as $75,000 richer. (laughing) (laughing)