The Shop Rat Foundation and the Jackson Area Manufacturers Association have teamed up to create the Advanced Manufacturing Training Center to meet the growing demand for skilled trades training in Jackson.
- A new training center in Jackson is teaching skilled trades like welding and robotics.
- The facility provides much-needed space to train workers for over 250 local manufacturers.
- It offers hands-on experience to help youth and adults launch manufacturing careers.
The comprehensive community resource serves youth through adulthood, teaching key manufacturing disciplines such as CNC machining, welding, robotics, and automation.
Kelly Kofflin, executive director of the Shop Rat Foundation, saw a potential capacity issue with existing county programs.
"What we were finding is, we have some great programs and partnerships in place, but we were just at a space limitation. Everything that we have in our community was being utilized to its capacity, and so we just needed an addition and dedicated training space to be able to complement those existing programs and meet those needs," Kofflin said.
"We have over 250 manufacturers here. And so, equipping the workforce with the skills that they need is absolutely paramount to our success as a community," Kofflin said.
The new center aims to provide the experience and knowledge that sets up students like 17-year-old Brian Rogers for their future. Rogers is still in high school but is already working on his future in manufacturing, an interest sparked at a young age.
"I was 13, started working at my parent's shop and I've been working there ever since. It's been a great experience. I love it, I love every second of it," Rogers said.
Rogers told me he wants to stay in Jackson, where there is plenty of opportunity in the trades.
"I mean, you can't really go down two streets without seeing a machine shop. So there's a lot of opportunity here, and a lot of opportunity to grow," Rogers said.
All those opportunities require the proper training, which the new center provides.
"It can teach you more skills that maybe you can't learn on your own, or maybe don't have the chance to learn. It gives you that time, it gives you that experience, it gives you the knowledge," Rogers said.
"I want to own my own machine shop eventually and do this every day. I love it," Rogers said.
"I can't see myself doing anything more than this," Rogers added.
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