Vermont Business MagazineIn response to a growing regional and national skilled labor shortage, GWPlastics is leading the way in workforce training, career development, and community educational outreachthrough their innovative high school program. Last week, GW Plastics celebrated the graduation of their second"School of Tech" class and is proud to announce the steady growth of the program.
GW Plastics began their “School of Tech” in 2015 aftertwo years of planning with local state and schoolofficials. The semester-long program focuses on raisingawareness among local youths about careers inadvanced manufacturing. “It is very difficult to find ahigh school shop class that provides relevant training inour industry,” says Cathy Tempesta, GW PlasticsDirector of Human Resources. “There are limited waysfor students to become exposed to the world ofmanufacturing, so we launched our own „school‟ inorder to make manufacturing attractive again.” GWPlastics recruits their own employees in collaborationwith high school teachers to instruct the students on allthings manufacturing, including polymer science,product design, mold building, injection molding, automation,quality assurance, and general business skills. Eachsemester includes a visit to Gifford Medical Center inRandolph where the students can see GW Plastics‟healthcare products used in real life and learn about the ramifications if a device is not manufactured to thehighest level of quality possible.
In just two semesters, the program has grown in popularity and includes actual interaction with advanced machinetools, molding machines, and other technologies instead of just classroom instruction. This semester's studentstook it a step further, and by the end of the semester they had not only studied manufacturing techniques, butthey also designed and manufactured their own product - cell phone holders that are now being sold at theirschool. This real-life process helps the students understand everything from concept through production includingthe satisfaction of bringing a product to market.
GW Plastics‟ innovative and holistic “School of Tech” program makes students think in a more sustainable andglobal way, ultimately creating experienced and knowledgeable young professionals. "We could not be morethrilled that these students are as engaged as they are in this program," said Tempesta. "Most of these studentshave never been in a manufacturing environment before, and now they have successfully designed andmanufactured their own product. These experiences that the students are now able to list on a future college orjob application are unparalleled."
GW Plastics already has plans to expand the “School of Tech” program, with the next semester of studentsstarting at the end of January. They have also broken ground on their Royalton, VT site expansion, which willallow for extra classrooms and enhanced training facilities for the students to use. "We are delighted to be able togive back to our community and our local students to help them prepare for wherever their career interests takethem," said Brenan Riehl, GW Plastics President and CEO. "Our investment in these students and commitment tothis program runs deep, and we are thrilled to have both the facilities and the volunteer staff to help expand ourprogram and restore excitement to a career in manufacturing.”
Please join GW Plastics in congratulatingthe following students on a successfulsemester: Nathan Gray, Ethan French,Zavier Henderson, Cameron Jarvis,Gurion Lake, Alexander Russell, andConnor Wheatley. In addition, GWPlastics would like to extend sinceregratitude to Randolph Union High Schoolteacher Ken Cadow for his dedication tothis program and the staff of RUHS fortheir ongoing support.
To learn more about the “School of Tech”program and GW Plastics‟ workforcetraining initiatives, please contact CathyTempesta at [email protected] or visit their website at www.GWPlastics.com.
About GW Plastics:
Since its foundation in 1955, GW Plastics has earned a reputation as a leader in precision injection molding andcontract manufacturing serving the world‟s most successful companies in the healthcare, automotive safety, andconsumer/industrial markets. Specializing in complex injection molded thermoplastic and silicone solutions, GWPlastics excels at close tolerance mold building, precision injection molding, and contract assembly. Corecompetencies include product development, in-house precision tooling, scientific molding, and automatedassembly. With leading-edge technologies, a Six Sigma quality commitment, and a relentless pursuit ofinnovation, GW Plastics continues to attract and delight industry-leading market leaders who seek consistency ofownership, financial stability, a professional leadership team, and a workforce with the experience to deliver on-
time and within budget. Headquartered in Bethel, Vermont, the company‟s standardized ISO 9001, ISO 13485,ISO/TS 16949 and FDA-registered manufacturing facilities are located in Bethel and Royalton, Vermont; SanAntonio, Texas; Tucson, Arizona; Querétaro, Mexico; and Dongguan, China.