RIT program helps fill skills gap by training unemployed vets

When Sean Phelan interviewed for a technical trainer opening at the Harris Communication Systems in March, he realized that he did not have all the needed skills in electronics for the job.

But Phelan is now in an electronics training program, Veterans and Displaced Workers in Manufacturing, and when he informed Harris that he was in the program, he was recently contacted by the company about coming in for another interview.

Phelan is hoping that this four-week intensive program will provide the “missing link” to getting a job in electronics — a growing sector of the Rochester economy.

The new program, which is for 20 unemployed or underemployed workers, is run by Rochester Institute of Technology, with all of the participants coming from referrals by the Veterans Outreach Center and RochesterWorks! — a nonprofit corporation that provides services to the unemployed. The state Department of Labor must also give its OK to each applicant.

What makes the program stand out is it stresses hands-on training, with constant feedback from instructors, and its close ties to local companies that might hire the participants.

“This is to give them a targeted skill set that will permit local industry to grow,” said  S. Manian Ramkumar, who oversees the program as chairman of RIT’s Department of Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering Technology.

Unmet needs and opportunities

Intended to help fill the middle-skills gap in the economy, the program is designed to give participants the technical skills to work at entry level positions in electronics manufacturing.

Harris Communication has been a promoter of the program, both because it assists veterans and fills a need.

"It helps bring quality candidates to fill opportunities," said Lisa Perticone, senior human resources manager for Harris.

Funded by a $100,000 grant from the Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council, the program does not charge the participants. The training is done in daily sessions that last four weeks. Phelan is one of 10 participants in the first session, which started June 6. The second session, not currently full, starts next month.

"They are trying to identify the right people — motivated," said Ramkumar, who hopes that the success of the program will open the door for additional funding and more training sessions.

Todd Baxter, executive director of the Veterans Outreach Center, said that many of the 87,000 veterans in the Finger Lakes Region have very good technical skills.

"The problem is getting folks through the door and say, 'I am ready to on on this career path,'" Baxter said.

In 2015, Veterans Outreach helped 391 vets get jobs.

Programs at Veterans Outreach are crafted to meet specific needs. This year, for example, Monroe Community College launched a Middle Skills Bridge Program at the center. The 10-week program focuses on math and English skills to prepare participants to move directly into a post-secondary career technical education program upon completion.

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Hands-on training

A big plus for the RIT program is that it is closely aligned with potential employers.

"We would like to see more programs like this. It assures that the graduates have the skills that employers want," said Lee Koslow, technical assistance and training manager for RochesterWorks!

The emphasis on hands-on training was evident in last week’s soldering training. Instructor Angela Wallace gave some general instructions and then went from one participant in the program to another, giving individual help.

“Remember to clean your tip off every time you take it out of the holder before you make a solder change,” said Wallace, who conducted the solder training. She works for EPTAC Corp., which specializes in such training and is based in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Participants in the program are looking for new careers or skills to advance in existing ones.

Phelan, 48, of Rochester, is a former teacher, with three years of military service in the Army. Unemployed for almost two years, Phelan heard about the program in May in a Vet Net presentation at Veterans Outreach by Harris’ local head of recruiting, Terry VanEpps.

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Keeping up with technology

Another participant, Abdullah Brown, also learned about this program from this presentation.

A tool-and-die maker, Brown, 61, of Rochester has been out of work for about two years.

“I’m just trying to find a job. It’s hard out there,” he said. “As technology changes, a lot of jobs don’t bring people along.”

He has kept up with the change from manually operated machines to ones operated by computers and studied in MCC's certificate program in precision machining.

And while Brown was introduced to electronics when he served with the Army National Guard from 1978 to 1984, the RIT program is helping him keep up with changes in the world of electronics.

“Now everything is miniaturized. The technology has made us retrain just to understand how the future is moving,” he said.

Brian Hantzis, 58, of Henrietta hopes that the RIT program will help him make a career change.

He worked 33 years as a sales representative for Parker Hannifin, which makes such devices as landing gears for aircraft and hydraulic systems, but he grew tired of the constant travel, and he and the company parted ways.

A Marine veteran, Hantzis learned about the RIT program from the veterans’ representative at RochesterWorks!.

And Hantzis is happy with the program.

"It is teaching me things I never learned before — how to put components on a circuit board,” he said.

Hantzis expects the AIM (American Institute for Manufacturing) Photonics initiative that Vice President Joe Biden announced here almost a year ago will create additional jobs in electronics.

“Almost every photonics device has electronics components,” he noted.

Electronic components convert light into data and store that information and also convert that data back to light for transmission.

Getting credentials

The first week of the program was conducted in the Electronics Packaging Laboratory of RIT’s Center for Electronics Manufacturing and Assembly in Louise Slaughter Hall. It provides participants with a basic understanding of electronics assembly.

Duane Beck, a lecturer in RIT’s College of Applied Science & Technology, has helped with training. He told of the importance of evaluating the participants' work and giving them feedback.

“You have to do it — sometimes within minutes,” Beck noted.

Week two was in soldering, followed by this week’s training in assembly acceptability standards and next week’s primer in rework and repair.

In addition to the certificate awarded for completing the first week, the participants get industry-approved certifications for each of the skill sets taught.

Not only were companies, such as Harris, consulted but they were invited to interview the participants on July 7.

Fifteen companies have been invited for this round of interviews.

“We can bring the jobs to their doorstep,” said Ramkumar.

JGOODMAN@Gannett.com