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10 | /INSIGHT ON MANUFACTURING • May 2015 w w w.in s i g h t o n m f g . c o m INTERN INITIATIVE c o n t i n u e d A few examples: e NEW Manufacturing Alliance and the Northeast Wisconsin Educational Resource Alliance are working collaboratively to create more internship connections. A program in Sheboygan County, operated by Lakeshore Technical College and funded by the Department of Workforce Development, places high school interns in area businesses. Colleges are finding new ways to connect students with manufacturers. ose companies that participate in internships or apprenticeships find the investment is worth it. "Curt Joa has always been interested in educating our workforce because it's key to us," says Chris Meyer, HR manager for Curt G. Joa. "We basically hire only skilled tradespeople and professional engineers." e Sheboygan Falls company has been involved closely with the Sheboygan Area Youth Apprenticeship program for the past decade and has renewed its focus in recent years. "Everybody knows the skilled trades jobs are hard to fill, and we're interested in grooming local kids and keeping them local," Meyer says. "We've kind of taken the stance that because there is a skilled labor gap, that instead of waiting for the perfect candidate to fall in our lap, we've decided to create those good employees," says Erin Kramer, staffing specialist at Joa. Joa had five youth apprentices this spring and they each have the potential to transition into adult apprenticeships, Meyer says. "If we can get the kids at the high school level and have them intern with us through their college years, and get them to come back and become full-time employees, we feel like we stand a better chance as an employer to retain them long-term," Kramer says. Youth Apprenticeship Manager Jill Preissner says the Sheboygan County program requires students to work 450 or more paid hours with a local employer, and 200 hours can come from summer employment. ey receive elective credits at their high school, and they are graded on the job by a trained mentor. Each internship pays at least minimum wage, she says. "It really does mirror a lot of the adult apprenticeships or registered apprenticeships because of the fact that they're doing the same thing — they go to school and work at the same time," Preissner says. e program sees the student through the process with team-based grading conferences to talk about successes and challenges. "We talk about hard and so skills so that they get the largest experience possible, because ultimately, we want them to fully understand the careers they're trying to discover," she says. e Sheboygan-area program has grown in the past few years from 11 students from four high schools at four participating companies to 125 students from 16 high schools at more than 60 participating businesses this year, Preissner says. Company investment in these students is paying off. Last year, 73 percent of the students who were in the program were retained by that business aer graduation. Once business leaders learn more about youth apprenticeships and how child labor laws apply, they feel more comfortable about participating, Priessner says. Some "student learners" are allowed to work in manufacturing areas that youth under age 18 wouldn't normally be allowed to, for example. Students learn about the Sheboygan County program through liaisons at local high schools, usually a guidance counselor or a teacher, Priessner says. Having that familiar teacher or instructor talk directly to students about internship or apprenticeship opportunities is key, says Greg Kleinheinz, an environmental engineering technology professor at UW-Oshkosh. "It always works better if a student hears from a faculty member they see on a daily or weekly basis," Kleinheinz says. Faculty also can identify the students who would fit best in certain types of industries or positions. No Youth apprentice Eric Burgard (right) is gaining on-the-job engineering experience at Curt G. Joa in Sheboygan Falls. He says the experience has helped him to focus his interest on mechanical engineering and it's given him real-world experience designing things like a new production line. Jill Preissner, youth apprenticeship manager, Sheboygan area, Lakeshore Technical College