Program aims to fill jobs

Forsyth Tech is one of 4 schools in U.S. to offer national credentials in four curriculums

By: Fran Daniel | JOURNAL REPORTER
Published: August 19, 2010

U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan sees a job-certification program at Forsyth Technical Community College as a model for the entire country.

"It's all about jobs, jobs, jobs," Hagan said. "We've got to turn this economy around."

She toured the campus yesterday to learn about the college's welding and machining classes, which are part of a job-training program called the National Association of Manufacturing -- Endorsed Skills Certification System.

Forsyth Tech is one of four colleges in the country to participate in the program, which issues nationally recognized credentials. The college offers program credentials in four curriculums: machining technology, mechanical-engineering technology, welding, and industrial-systems technology.

Since November 2009, 107 Forsyth Tech students have been issued national certifications.

John Golden, the coordinator of manufacturing programs at Forsyth Tech, said that the credentials provide an added level of credibility to the education process.

"When you're traveling through the streets of Winston-Salem and you cross a bridge, I think you would feel more comfortable knowing that the welding that was done to the structure of that bridge was done by a certified welder," Golden said.

Hagan, D-N.C., is sponsoring a bill called the American Works Act that is based on Forsyth Tech's model. Its goal is to create a system to help displaced workers find jobs. She said that the bill would replicate the college's program throughout North Carolina and the country. "We want to be sure that industry, colleges and students can work together to be sure that the curriculum is correct, that the programs that they have -- the college courses -- are in line with what for-profit businesses need," she said.

She said she believes that one of the reasons that Caterpillar Inc. will open a plant in Winston-Salem is because of what's happening at Forsyth Tech.

"The fact that they are one of the four pilot colleges in the nation that are piloting this certification program through NAM clearly sets the stage for a company like Caterpillar to know that the students who come out of here with their certificates will be readily employable with the skill sets that a company like Caterpillar needs," Hagan said, using the manufacturing association's acronym.

Gary Green, the president of Forsyth Tech, said that it is important for Hagan to see the creative programs at the college and to hear about how the decisions she makes in Washington affect students day to day, including federal grants.

"It's really good for senators and other congressional representatives to see for themselves the impact on the ground," he said.

fdaniel@wsjournal.com
727-7366

In Forsyth County and Stokes County combined, Forsyth Technical Community College expects growing demand for people to fill jobs in machining technology, mechanical-engineering technology, welding, and industrial-systems technology as workers retire from the manufacturing industry.