Feb. 24, 2021 GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- GRCC Workforce Training offers programs providing in-demand skills leading to rewarding careers. Each Wednesday we’ll meet students who are heading down an educational pathway and changing their lives by earning occupational certificates.
Jerrittia Roseburgh has tenacity. She was a young mother of five children when she enrolled in the GRCC CNC Machining Job Training program.
“I really had no idea what CNC was when I started. All I knew is that with this training, I could make a good hourly wage and that is what I needed,” she said.
That determination earned her a position at Autocam Medical as a machine operator, but also set her up to become the only woman to be selected to participate in their apprenticeship program that year.
An apprenticeship program is a partnership between an employer, in this case Autocam Medical, and an educational institution. The program offers the combined benefits of on-the-job training plus college instruction. Apprentices gain both practical experience and exposure to the theoretical aspects of skilled occupations.
Companies work with GRCC to create apprenticeship courses, which are then approved by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Apprenticeships. An apprentice is required to have a minimum of 8,000 hours of on-the-job training in addition to successfully complete 30 credit hours in the technology area to be eligible to receive their journey-person’s certificate.
This opportunity would not have come to Roseburgh without her initial training in the Machine Tool/CNC Job Training program. This 20-week training program has recently been completely redesigned and updated to better meet the industry needs.
CNC machinists are in high demand. The jobs in the industry pay well and offer many upward pathways to increase wages. As a machinist/computer numerical control technician, students shape metal and various materials to precise dimensions by using machine tools. MT/CNC technicians plan and set up the correct sequence of machine operations in accordance with blueprints, layouts or other instructions to write both manual and computer-generated machine programs. The technician is required to use various hand tools, micrometers, gauges and other precision measuring instruments.
To be most effective in the manufacturing environment of today, individuals will need to be able to read blueprints, perform basic shop math, read measurement tools and communicate effectively with others using today's Machine Tool/CNC terminology.
Anyone interested in gaining career skills through GRCC Workforce Training can connect via email at workforcetraining@grcc.edu, and by phone at (616) 234-3800. Additional information is at grcc.edu/programs/job-workforce-training.