DANBURY — Mirian Rivas labored for greater than 20 years within the meals trade when her teenage son inspired her to pursue her curiosity in manufacturing.
Whereas nonetheless working full-time, the Danbury lady took a 10-month course via Naugatuck Valley Group Faculty and earned the talents she wants for her new job at ASML. She is an optical coding and cleansing technician, working with machines that make microchips.
“I’m actually, actually happy with what I’m doing proper now,” Rivas stated on Friday morning to a crowd of dignitaries inside a brand new middle that may put together faculty college students for careers within the manufacturing trade. “I’m serving to to vary the world.”
Rivas helped minimize the ribbon on the brand new Connecticut State Group Faculty Naugatuck Valley Superior Manufacturing Know-how Middle at Western Connecticut State College.
The three,000-square-foot facility is supposed to assist meet the demand for manufacturing jobs and gas this trade within the Danbury space and Connecticut.
“That is what the long run is basically about,” stated Gov. Ned Lamont, who later touted Connecticut’s “manufacturing revolution.”
The $2.4 million venture was funded via state bonds and was a partnership between WestConn and Naugatuck Valley Group Faculty, which has a satellite tv for pc campus in downtown Danbury.
The middle was created inside an present WestConn warehouse behind the parking storage on White Road and options state-of-the-art gear and expertise.
The opening of the middle comes amid international provide chain challenges that Lamont stated exhibits “how essential it’s for us to make issues proper right here in the US of America.”
“Danbury and this a part of the state, we’ve got the wind at our backs as a result of that is what we do,” he stated. “We’ve all the time been the perfect at doing this.”
With the brand new facility, 24 college students could also be enrolled in Naugatuck Valley Group Faculty’s two-semester certificates program the place they earn 31 credit, which might be utilized to engineering expertise or expertise research affiliate diploma applications. Every scholar can earn an OSHA 10 Certificates and Nationwide Institute for Steel Working Abilities nationally acknowledged credential in two semesters.
Among the many college students in this system is Francesco Ambrosino. He graduated from Central Connecticut State College in New Britain with an train science diploma, however now works at East Department Engineering in New Milford.
“As soon as I discovered this course, it was actually eye-opening,” stated Ambrosino, including it’s helped him develop and that the professors have been “wonderful.”
Facility brings alternatives
For the final six years, Naugatuck Valley college students have used house at Henry Abbott Technical Excessive College in Danbury for his or her courses. That’s the place Rivas took her programs and the place her son attended highschool, which impressed her to pursue manufacturing.
However she stated the brand new middle is a serious step up from the house the place she studied. All of the machines are new, and every scholar has entry to computer systems for programming, she stated.
“It’s great, actually, actually great,” stated Rivas, who immigrated to the US 25 years in the past and has three grownup youngsters. She earned a scholarship from Linde Manufacturing to take the course.
The ability helps to debunk among the “misconceptions” about manufacturing which will dissuade some from pursuing the sphere, stated Lisa Dresdner, campus CEO at Naugatuck Valley.
“Take a look at the pure gentle coming via the home windows, take a look at the calming blue partitions, clear flooring, clear machines, the truth that you don’t see mud particles hanging within the air,” she stated. “We’re a good distance from the outdated days of producing.”
About 12 college students moved into the house in January, however the facility has the capability for twenty-four, Dresdner stated. The 12 college students will graduate from this system in Might.
This system may develop to 72 graduates per yr with day and weekend cohorts deliberate.
There are 21 manufacturing corporations within the space that accomplice with Naugatuck Valley’s Danbury and Waterbury Superior Manufacturing Know-how Middle applications, the place college students are positioned in internships.
About 95 p.c of graduates are positioned in full-time jobs with the potential common beginning wage for a machine operator ranging between $18 to $22 an hour, in accordance with information from the governor’s workplace.
“Our college students are pushed by the alternatives of this trade,” Dresdner stated.
When the governor tries to persuade companies to maneuver to Connecticut, they ask about workforce.
“They’re going to find the place they be certain they’ve the individuals who can do the talent,” Lamont stated. “And that is what that is all about, look no additional, keep proper right here in Danbury, keep proper right here in Connecticut.”
