Last January, gigantic slab cakes were rolled into the cafeteria – and for a party at the Centre for the Arts too – to kick off St. Clair’s 50th anniversary celebrations in 2017.
Today – January 23, 2018 – a big cake was also the featured attraction as St. Clair celebrated the first-year anniversary of its operation of the Regional Skilled Trades Training Centre on St. Etienne Boulevard in Windsor.
Major milestones? Or just an excuse to eat cake every January? Hmmm. Maybe a bit of both.
While it has only operated the training centre for a year – after acquiring the facility from the Valiant Corporation – there has been much cause for celebration, according to college officials.
Enrolment at the facility has exceeded expectations as St. Clair’s marketing efforts have attracted more students to what had been, previously, a private-sector-operated enterprise.
The Valiant Training and Development Centre became the St. Clair College Skilled Trades Regional Training Centre on January 1, 2017.
In 2008, the Valiant Centre had been launched as the brain-child of Michael G. Solcz Sr., Chairman Emeritus of the Solcz Group Inc. and founder of the Valiant TMS Group of Companies.
Its aim was to hire - and train - specialized skilled trades talent to address the changing needs of local industry. Existing skilled trades training venues, at the time, were not keeping pace with the increased automation in local industry.
So, the Valiant Centre introduced an innovative approach, combining work opportunity and training in a program called “Earn While You Learn”. Simultaneously, students/employees worked and were instructed in the fundamentals of various skilled trades over the span of the 46-week-long program.
At the 2017 press conference announcing the transfer to the college, Solcz said, “Our team members and customers have benefitted from the skills and experience provided through our training programs. We believe it is now time to expand the program to benefit the greater community, and that St. Clair College is well positioned to drive that growth.”
In addition to its own marketing and partnership with over 35 employment-providing industries, the college also established ties with the Canadian Tooling and Machining Association (CTMA), Canadian Association of Mouldmakers (CAMM) and the Automotive Parts Manufacturers Association (APMA) to foster the centre’s growth.
Last January, St. Clair President Patti France said, “From the outset, I can tell you that we are not going to ‘re-invent the wheel’ by making any drastic changes here. The ‘Earn While You Learn’ philosophy is fabulous. The program is an effective educational tool that is the very definition of practical, ‘real world’, hands-on learning.”
St. Clair’s enhancement and expansion of Valiant’s former operation have included these factors:
• Graduates of the new facility/program will receive St. Clair-authorized certificates – which will include credits that they can use to advance into other programs at the college, or formal apprenticeships;
• When the St. Etienne site is incapable of accommodating additional enrolment, or if more varied equipment is needed for certain courses, students will be accommodated in the Ford Centre for Excellence in Manufacturing at St. Clair’s main campus; and
• If some of the partnered industries and associations can accommodate students, the “Earn While You Learn” format may be duplicated in some of the college’s other (pre-existing) trades-and-technologies programs.
During the first-anniversary celebration, France reflected, “Establishing and maintaining close relationships with private-sector, industrial partners – and welcoming your input and involvement – ensures that our curriculum remains relevant, vibrant and state-of-the-art. As the ultimate employers of our graduates, it is essential that we are providing the knowledge-bases and skill-sets that you need – and that you will need in the future – and we achieve that by our engagement with you.”
“The Skilled Trades Regional Training Centre has had a marvellous first year,” she added. “Enrolment and outcomes have far exceeded expectations. I believe that our collective and long-voiced message is finally getting across: namely, that there are plentiful job openings in the skilled trades, and they take the form of personally rewarding and lucrative careers.”
St. Clair Board of Governors Chair Dan Allen cited “the worthwhile nature of this centre’s innovative training format, and its perfect mesh with the college’s mission, mandate and methodology … Like President France, the Board is confident that this anniversary will be marked dozens of times in the future.”
Mike Ouellette, Valiant’s Director of Training since its inception eight years ago, was transferred into a similar leadership role with the college. His passion to drive the concept of “Earn While You Learn” has been a key to the Centre’s success. His vision is to continue to work to enhance the pre-apprenticeship system, and to help young people achieve great careers in the machine, tool, die and mould industries.
During the “birthday party”, he noted that there is room – and overwhelming demand – for many more students in the manufacturing-related trades. “We are still hearing from our industrial partners that they expect to lose 40 percent of their staffs within the next decade,” Ouellette said – a reference to the “skills gap” caused by the nearing-retirement-age of many current tradespeople, and the insufficiency of young students/employees entering these fields.
Three current Trades Centre students – Jeffrey Lemmon, Sara Pare and Tudor Macovei – spoke at the anniversary bash about their immense satisfaction with the program and its earn-while-you-learn method. Two of them noted that they had turned to this trades-training opportunity to launch secure careers after graduating from university programs (degrees in Biology and Music).
The two programs housed at the centre are for youth aged 18 to 29. The Introductory Trades Training program includes six weeks of in-class workplace readiness training at the Centre, followed by 26 weeks of shop-floor training with a local employer. The “Earn While You Learn” program includes six weeks of in-class workplace readiness training, and 36 weeks of intensive shop-floor training at the Centre. Under both programs, students received a certificate from the CTMA when they graduated. The in-school portion of the program includes math skills, safety training and blueprint-reading classes. The shop-floor components see students exposed to numerous state-of-the-art equipment, including CNC machines.
