DBUSINESS: Autocam Medical Apprentice Program Helps To Fill Skilled Trades Pipeline
Autocam Medical, a global contract manufacturer of precision surgical and medical components and devices in Grand Rapids, presented 11 students with certificates of completion for their CNC Machinist Apprentice Program during a November ceremony at the AMP Lab at Western Michigan University in Grand Rapids.
The year-round program requires students to complete more than 700 hours of classroom instruction over a period of 90 weeks. Apprentices are employed by Autocam Medical, maintaining a full work schedule during the training period. In addition to CNC Machinist certification, the course of study also covers the necessary schooling required by the Federal Department of Labor for students to receive a certified journeyman card and puts them on the path to receive an associate degree, earning 27 college credits.
“Autocam Medical’s Apprentice Program is a win-win,” says Andy Beach, a Grand Rapids Community College instructor. “It’s a win for the skilled trades industry and a win for the students. The students gain skills that put them on a career path with unlimited opportunity, and it helps build a ready workforce for the manufacturing industry, which is starving for CNC Machinists.”
To keep up with Autocam Medical’s dramatic growth in West Michigan, the company will be expanding its footprint with a new plant in Kentwood. The new expansion will create 250 jobs and they will be increasing their hiring efforts over the next year.
