Sixty jobs

Articles about two different companies at opposite ends of the fabricating spectrum adding 30 jobs each came to my attention this morning.  One company's plan involves a big investment by the once bankrupt, bailed-out corporation, and the other, collaboration with a state-run program and local technical college.

General Motors is investing $100 million to add 30 jobs and purchase tooling and equipment for its GM Components Holdings Rochester Operation in New York. The investment reportedly will enable the facility to produce a new generation of fuel-efficient small block car and truck engines. The new jobs will be added to an existing workforce of 826 hourly and salaried employees at the facility. 

These 30 jobs are just a drop in the bucket of 35,000 new jobs GM, Ford, and Chrysler could add in the U.S., mainly in Michigan, by 2015. One could argue that these 35,000 jobs don't come close to filling the bucket that once contained more than 230,000 U.S. jobs these automakers cut between 2000 and 2009, but it's a small step in the right direction. 

Forsythnews.com has reported that Alpharetta, Ga.-based Metcam Inc. has signed an agreement with Lanier Technical College and Georgia Quick Start to use their services for training as it adds 30 jobs in its advanced metalworking operation. The 22-year-old company currently employs about 160 people in its 93,000-sq.-ft. facility.

Quick Start has provided customized work force training free-of-charge to qualified businesses in Georgia. Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia Inc. recently thanked the program by donating 20 Sorentos to technical colleges throughout the state. 

Commenting on the donation, Mr. K.S. Kim, senior vice president of KMMG, said, "The Technical College System of Georgia and Georgia Quick Start have been essential partners for Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia from the very beginning of our project here in Georgia. Quick Start has been our number one partner as we've selected, hired and trained more than 1,700 Kia team members." 

According to the news report, Metcam is working with Georgia Quick Start to provide training and development to the 30 new employees and to help streamline the company's overall operations.

Mike Grundmann, director of northern project operations for Quick Start, said Metcam's plan includes "leadership, development, training, and lean manufacturing."

Jerry Ward, Metcam's vice president, explained how the lean program works to help manufacturers streamline processes. "They take all the wasted time out of the process and make sure all the employees have all the proper tools they need where they need them. "It's all about eliminating waste."

Grundmann said training classes for Metcam's employees, for which Quick Start will provide all materials and instructors, will begin soon and likely last through September.

The overall Quick Start plan is scheduled to wrap up in December.

Lanier Tech will work with Metcam after the Quick Start plan ends to provide ongoing training and other support as needed. 

Sixty jobs—far less than a drop in the bucket of the 350,000 jobs per month needed for the next three years to close the employment gap, but of vital importance to 60 people. Now if approximately 420,000 additional companies would do the same, we might close that gap.

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