NSCC gets $145G grant for manufacturing program

LYNN – Lynn resident Patrick Cole wasn’t quite sure what he wanted to do with his life after he finished serving in the Marine Corps and Massachusetts National Guard.Now he is learning how to repair and run complex machines at General Electric’s Aviation plant in Lynn through a manufacturing program at North Shore Community College. The program, in its pilot year, is receiving statewide attention for its initiative to train specialized workers in a workforce that state and GE officials say is lacking skilled machinists.The program is so popular that it received a $145,000 grant to develop its advanced-manufacturing curriculum and adapt it for community colleges across the state.Lt. Governor Tim Murray and Lynn-area state representatives joined North Shore Community College officials and Lynn’s mayor at the school Tuesday to announce the grant, which is provided by the quasi-public agency Massachusetts Technology Collaborative.”This is how we’re going to make a difference in moving the economy forward,” State Sen. Tom McGee, a Democrat from Lynn, told the crowd.More than 240,000 Massachusetts residents are unemployed, yet more than 120,000 statewide positions in manufacturing remain unfilled, mostly due to a lack of incoming skilled workers, said Rich Gorham, a spokesman for GE Aviation.”We noticed that, quite frankly, there was a void of skilled machinists,” he said.So Gorham said GE officials approached North Shore Community College in 2010 to launch a program that would give students on-the-job training at GE Aviation to fill that void.Only a year in, it has become “a near-perfect machinist training initiative,” Gorham said.For Cole and his 17 classmates, the program provides an opportunity to launch a career in an industry they love.”It was a perfect fit for what I did in the past and where I want to go,” said Bob Britt of Lynn, a former auto-repair shop owner who said he wanted to learn new skills and join a growing industry.The students spend most of their days working with GE engineers, learning how to read blueprints and make machines, fix machines as they break and make sure they run properly.”They want us to know how to run machines and fix them,” said Nick Dimopoulos of Danvers.They are all guaranteed a job at GE’s Aviation plant in Lynn after they successfully complete the program – a rarity in this economy, the students said.”Everyone is going to college for desk jobs, but there are more manual jobs out there,” Cole said.Amber Parcher can be reached at [email protected].