Friday, October 23, 2009
At the invitation of the Material Handling Education Foundation, Inc. (MHEFI), career and technical educators from around the United States convened at Lehigh Career and Technical Institute on July 14 for an inaugural “Train-the-Trainer” summit.
A collaborative effort of MHEFI and the Don Frazier Material Handling Technical Training Program, the event featured presentations addressing course work and curriculum for material handling programs, as well as resources and materials available to technical educational institutions.
A common theme of the summit’s presentations was the imperative nature of education-industry partnerships. During her evening remarks, Nancy Dischinat, executive director for the Lehigh Valley Workforce Investment Board, explained that in order for students to learn about career opportunities and then develop the required skills, educators depend on employers’ providing information about new job titles and opportunities for internships and site visitations.
“You as educators need to know where are the jobs, what are the skills, what are the educational requirements, and how do you get access to those jobs,” Dischinat said to the audience of around 25 people. “99.9 percent [of students] don’t know what to be next. They don’t know what to be, because they don’t know what they can be.”
She further explained that in the Lehigh Valley, the highest number of job openings can be found in the health care, logistics and transportation industry clusters. Workers in such “gold collar” occupations receive education at career and technical schools.
“There is a real need for students graduating with these technical skills, so educators in career and technical schools are vital,” she said, “and a strong partnership with employers and industries helps the students graduate ready to continue on the path to those gold collar jobs, where they earn the money.”
Bob Wendt, director of research for the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation, also encouraged the joint effort of businesses and educational institutions in any area of the country to create jobs and develop skilled workforces. Whereas in the past businesses sought cheap land upon which to build factories, Wendt said now site selectors employ expensive consultants to ascertain the availability of workers.
“The availability of skilled qualified laborer is the dominant indicator for whether or not companies will move in to your area or expand in your area,” Wendt said. “Unless you have the attributes and the resources and the trained workforce, not only won’t companies look to move into your area, they’ll look elsewhere to expand.”
To meet this demand for skilled labor, career and technical schools around the United States are revamping their material handling, distribution, transportation and logistics curriculum, receiving assistance from organizations like MHEFI. On April 30, 2009, MHEFI dedicated its pilot program, the Don Frazier Material Handling Technical Training Program with the opening of the Don Frazier Supply Chain Training Center at the Rock Hill Schools Applied Technology Center in Rock Hill, S.C.
Dave Finley, an instructor of transportation, distribution and logistics at the Rock Hill school, said it was an honor to help spearhead the implementation of the program, which consists of an entry-level educational program for high school, technical and community college students who will gain work-related skills and experiences in state-of-the-art, fully-equipped working warehouse and distribution training centers.
“The automation and new technologies that are being developed, it’s all very exciting, and it’s awesome to be able to establish a career path for students and give them the skills to succeed in these new industries,” Finley said.
Because of its exemplary training facility and nationally recognized material handling program, LCTI was asked by MHEFI to host the first “Train-the-Trainer” summit as a follow-up to the Rock Hill launch. Other speakers included Allan Howie, director of continuing education and professional development for the Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA); Janis Klevis, director of post-secondary and workforce education; and Elsie Bell, director for curriculum, instruction and technology at LCTI.
Timothy Randall, coordinator of continuing education and workforce development at Brunswick Community College in Supply, N.C., is working with George Yu of International Business Global Supply Chain in Oak Island, N.C., to make Brunswick Community College the next LCTI and Rock Hill. With plans in the early stages to design a state-of-the-art ocean liner terminal in North Carolina, Randall and Yu hope to stay ahead of the curve and begin developing the workforce for that project now with a technical program at Brunswick Community College.
“We’re working to make it top of the line,” Randall said. “This facility [LCTI] is just awesome, and we’ll definitely take the information presented to us today and revamp our outlines and curriculum. Classes are scheduled for next semester, and we’ll continue to work with MHIA to create the best atmosphere to build a qualified work force.”
“LCTI and MHIA have given us a concrete example of what can be done,” Yu added.
For more information on the Technical Training program, contact Victoria Wheeler, Executive Director of MHEFI, at vwheeler@mhia.org or 704-676-1190.
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