SWIC program turning out desperately needed machinists

When it started nine years ago, Southwestern Illinois College’s Precision Machining Technology program had a handful of students.

But, with an unprecedented demand for talented and educated machinists in the St. Louis area, the program has ballooned to more than 90 students, and is growing fast.

That’s a good thing because local business leaders lately can’t get enough ready-to-work machinist for all the jobs they have available.

“One of our part-time instructors sells machines as his day job,” program co-ordinator Mark Bosworth said. “He was trying to sell a machine to a company and his contact said he’d buy the machine — if the instructor could send him a worker or two.”

Bosworth said precision machining was becoming something of a lost art as many jobs were being shipped to China and other manufacturing sites overseas. But recently, companies have decided that it’s more efficient to get higher-quality, locally made parts that can be delivered more quickly.

With a lack of new machinists being added to the workforce, its ranks have thinned.

“Companies like Boeing are concerned because it’s possible they could lose half their machinists to retirement in a year,” Bosworth said.

Justin Cann is a part-time instructor at SWIC and a full-time machining instructor at Collinsville Area Vocational Center. He said he’s thrilled to see teenagers who aren’t sure what they’re going to do to earn a living find a job where they can make a good wage with two years of training.

Bosworth said most students find part-time work with companies while they are still in his program. The companies hope to be able to recruit students for full-time work when they graduate.

Starting pay for a part-time student is about $15 a hour, Bosworth said. Full-time workers with three or four years of experience after school often find themselves making $31 an hour.

“There are kids I had when they were in high school who came through the SWIC program, and they’re already working, making good money,” Cann said. “Some of them, you wonder what they’d be doing if it wasn’t for this. It’s tough to imagine they’d find these kinds of good jobs so quickly in another field.”

About 75 percent of students in the program are recent high school graduates and about 25 percent are former military members or people who worked in another industry and are retraining for a new career.

Raymond Kaehler, 30, of O’Fallon, was a U.S. Air Force veteran of 10 years when he was forced to retire because he developed asthma. It was the first time in his life he wasn’t sure where he was going.

“I graduated from high school and three days later I was in basic training,” Kaehler said. “After I got out of the Air Force I spent some time trying to decide what it is that I wanted to do.”

Kaehler, who served five deployments overseas, said metal work was appealing to him because he loves to be able to make things and, more specifically, to make existing things better.

“I want to find products and find ways to improve them,” Kaehler said. “That would be my dream job.”

Ashley Robinson, 19, of Wood River, said she has always been mechanically inclined. The precision machining course seemed like a perfect fit, even though she is one of only three females in the class.

“I knew I wanted to do something mechanical ever since I was a little kid,” Robinson said. “I would help my dad as he messed around with cars and things like that. It’s something that is a lot of fun for me and I couldn’t think of a job I’d rather have.”

Bosworth said Robinson has become a leader in class and in the machine shop. Other students often ask for her guidance when they get stuck on assignments.

Kraig Harris, of Chelar Tool and Die in Belleville, said his company has hired three recent SWIC graduates, and they’re planning to hire more in the future.

“It’s not just tough here; it’s tough everywhere to find qualified machinists,” Harris said. “I think the industry is only going to continue to grow.”

Harris said he talked to a salesman with a machine company who told him sales are “through the roof” lately as companies ramp up production.

At Chelar, where workers make dyes used to build parts in the kitchen appliance industry as well as for many other fields, more than $1 million has been invested recently in new manufacturing equipment and 12,000 square feet of shop space has been added.

“We’re always harping on high school counselors to tell kids about the possibility of becoming a machinist,” Harris said. “I think when people think of our industry, they’re thinking of a dark, dirty shop. But it’s not like that anymore.”

“We have a clean, well-lit workspace,” Harris said. “It’s a great field to be in.”

Harris credits Bosworth, a long-time instructor at Ranken Technical School in St. Louis, with making SWIC’s Precision Machining Program as successful as it is.

Bosworth brought a lot of knowledge of the machining industry to SWIC and was able to recruit a well-qualified group of instructors, Harris said. He also secured millions in grant money to upgrade SWIC’s equipment to include state-of-the-art machines.

Also, SWIC recently received a new, five-year accreditation from the National Institute for Metalworking Skills, which maintains industry standards for machinist training.

“We’ve worked hard to make sure our students receive the ... training needed to work in industry, including $2 million in federal grants to enhance our facilities and technology in the last few years,” Bosworth said.

This story was originally published July 11, 2015 at 10:02 AM with the headline "SWIC program turning out desperately needed machinists."