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| navigate: home: magazine: fall 1999: article | |
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Penn State Dubois Bringing magnet applications to Clearfield County By Michele C. Moyer | ||||||
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A company committed to training and hiring locally has opened its doors in Clearfield County, thanks to a cooperative effort between local agencies and Penn State DuBois. Magnet Applications Inc., a subsidiary of Applied Power Inc. of Milwaukee, Wis., broke ground at the new Sandy Township Industrial Park in 1998, but initial hiring and the production of permanent magnets and magnet assemblies for the automotive, electronic and domestic appliance fields began this past January. Within three years, the 16,000-square-foot plant will have 40 manufacturing jobs and 15 staff members offering office and technical support. “It’s a second chance for a lot of people,” said Bob Fredette, manufacturing manager at Magnet’s DuBois plant. Prior to the plant’s opening, a group of 14 trainees completed courses offered by the Continuing Education Office of Penn State DuBois and the Industrial Technical Education Center operated by the North Central Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission in Ridgway. These trainees were displaced from previous jobs or are transitional workers. “I feel privileged to be a part of Magnet Applications and to help get it started,” one trainee said. “This plant has a different thought about people; they seem to care more about people,” said another. One of the reasons Magnet chose DuBois for its plant was the presence of a Penn State campus and the technical support it can provide. “We wanted to locate here, but the company considered other sites, too. The real clincher in coming to DuBois was the technical support available through research and development at the campus,” Fredette said. The effort to bring Magnet to DuBois started more than a year ago. Fredette, a former Penn State DuBois student, was doing consulting work for the parent company of Magnet Applications, which was looking for a site for a manufacturing plant. When he realized the plant could be located anywhere in the United States, his plan to bring it to DuBois began to take shape. Fredette knew that Penn State DuBois could offer the technical support needed to train workers in magnet manufacturing, and he also knew the residents of the region had a reputation for having a strong work ethic, both compelling reasons to locate in Clearfield County. But he needed help to organize an aggressive plan that would include economic incentives for the company to locate here. For this, he turned to the local Powdered Metal Initiative, whose program director is Jude Stauffer, an instructor at Penn State DuBois and the program leader of its materials engineering technology department. The Powdered Metal Initiative met with members of the Ben Franklin Technology Center, the Penn State Industrial Resource Center and the North Central Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission, and as a result of these initial meetings developed a plan to pool resources to bring Magnet to DuBois. The DuBois Area Economic Development Corp. (DAEDC) acted as a facilitator, working with agencies like the state and county Industrial Development Authorities and the Governor’s Action Team to arrange funding for infrastructure development. The DAEDC also acted as applicant and administrator for other funding needed. North Central wrote a customized job training grant, which secured the funding to train the workforce, and came up with a low-interest loan for machinery and equipment. “After Bob (Fredette) contacted us, the campus helped develop a web of resources to lay the framework for the project,” Stauffer explained. The cooperation of the partners involved, including North Central and the DAEDC, was very unique, he noted. “It wasn’t a self-serving effort. Everyone brought their ideas and expertise to the table, and together we developed a plan to make it happen.” When company officials visited the area, they were very impressed with the package put together by the DuBois group, Fredette said. “The DuBois people worked very hard to get us to locate here. It was a real group effort,” he added. Most impressive to the company management was the technical support offered by Penn State DuBois. “Being so close to the materials engineering program offered here really made the difference,” said Bob Parana, production manager at Magnet’s DuBois plant. Penn State DuBois’ Continuing Education Office was able to develop a customized job-training package to meet Magnet’s specific needs. Trainees are taking courses in team building, statistical engineering, graphic design, computer literacy and compression molding. Penn State Management Development Programs and Services faculty members Dr. Donald Turner and Dr. Michael Gerfin conducted the training programs. Turner said, “Now that the first of our trainees are beginning work at the plant, I’ve had an opportunity to see them on the job. The new employees are still glowing about the training and attention they had an opportunity to receive through this program—education that will benefit them for the rest of their lives. As an instructor, it really feels good to be helping people who need access to lifelong learning and have not had the opportunity to receive it in the past. With programs like these, all of the partners involved know that our work is bringing a direct solution to a community problem.” Gerfin added, “This is really why Penn State is in business—to enhance peoples’ lives, to help people gain and apply knowledge and to contribute to communities, making them more productive by responding to local needs with educational solutions. This program is a model of success in reaching one of Penn State’s most important outreach goals.” “What makes Magnet so unique is that it’s committed to hiring unemployed people,” John Blasdell, continuing education representative at Penn State DuBois, said. The company believes training its own workforce will pay off. “It’s great when workers can get in a company on the ground floor,” Parana said. “It helps people emotionally. You can really see the change in people from training session to training session. Because the instructors were excellent, they helped employees learn to stick together. This is why Penn State has been so helpful.” Trainees also receive hands-on instruction to prepare them for the new plant. “Getting hands-on experience from the instructors is making all the difference,” Parana said. All the workers are being trained to be cross-functional, meaning that all receive experience in set-up, trouble-shooting, running the production line and quality analysis. “It’ll be a real team effort,” Parana said. “The attitude of employees is so important, and some of them will be making very important decisions at the plant.” Penn State DuBois has long been committed to workforce education. Over the next decade, it is projected that almost half of all job openings will require a postsecondary education. Penn State will continue to play a key role in educating the state’s workers. “Our experience with Magnet demonstrates the tremendous impact education has in creating opportunity,” Jeffrey Spearly, director of continuing education at Penn State DuBois, said. “Education can provide labor market advantage for those individuals who are unemployed or seeking new careers. Education is often what distinguishes one job applicant from another,” Spearly said. “By participating in technical and developmental educational activities, once unemployed workers have found employment in a new manufacturing segment with Magnet.” As a result of this cooperative approach, Magnet’s parent company has made a strong commitment to the area. At the outset of the project, the plan was to lease a building to house its new operation. However, as talks progressed with the DuBois group, Magnet Applications decided to build a plant in the Sandy Township Industrial Park. The DAEDC helped secure the current site in the newly developed park, located off Route 255. “The nice thing about our new plant is that there’s room to expand it another 22,000 square feet, which is projected to happen around the year 2003. Expansion is built into the current plans of the plant, which shows the company’s dedication to this site,” Parana said. Having its workers trained before the plant was completely constructed has put Magnet in a good position for a start-up industry. “Usually a building is up, then people are trained. By doing it the other way around and training our workers first, we can hit the ground running when the plant opens and be productive our first year,” said Fredette, who noted the company already has orders and believes it will make a profit in 1999. Mary Beth Stojeck, director of the DAEDC, shares Fredette’s optimism. She believes “without a doubt” that Magnet has the expertise and financial clout to be a success. “They are going to be very important to DuBois’ economic future,” she predicted. This is good news not just for DuBois and surrounding counties, but also for Penn State DuBois. “Penn State’s motto is ‘Making Life Better,’ and in this case, we have truly fulfilled our mission. We’ve improved the lives of the trainees who now will be productive employees, and we’ve done our part to launch a successful new industry that we believe will have a great impact on the economy of our tri-county area,” Dr. Claudia A. Limbert, Penn State DuBois campus executive officer, said. In turn, Magnet’s management team believes Penn State’s commitment to high standards will pay off for them. “Penn State’s reputation is known throughout the world. We hope Magnet Applications will one day carry this same reputation,” Parana said. | |||||
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