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In this issue
Success Story-Shane Barth P.1
Rick Lofy on Boot Camp #15 P.1
Success Story-Al Steel P.2
Completion Ceremony P.2
Upcoming Boot Camps P.2
Boot Camp to Apprenticeship P.2
The Computer Numerical Controls CNC Boot Camp Newsletter
ISSUE 15 November 2012
Employers Hire
...the BEST Rooms are available for interviewing CNC Boot Camp participants immediately following the completion ceremony. For more information contact Alonzo Payne from the Racine County Workforce Development Center at 262-638-6547 or [email protected]
Success Story - Shane Barth (pictured above) worked as a roofer for many years, riding out the
seasonal nature of the construction industry as he earned a paycheck and became good at his job. After
being unemployed for a long stretch, and looking at his future, though, he said he sought more than just a
job – he was looking for a career. “I don’t want to be a button-pusher,” said Shane. “I want to do more, I
want a career – and that’s what they are teaching me here.” Shane said the boot camp will impact his life
with a career of which he can grow – steady work, steady pay and possibilities for advancement as he
continues to gain more skills. “Those days of paycheck to paycheck that I had in construction – I don’t want
to do that anymore,” he said.
“I don’t foresee that in CNC. I see that I will have many more opportunities, and the skills I will have gained
are from the boot camp.” Shane said the boot camp provides him with the structure and skills to
successfully land a position as a CNC technician. Instructors provide real-world training, he said, in addition
to going the extra step to ensure that he is ready to enter the workforce. “They prepare you well, they are
giving you all the training that you need,” he said. “They help you in any way that they can. This is an
excellent program.” Shane says the part of the program he liked best was the machine run-time as well as the
blueprint reading section. “CNC seems like a pretty cool career,” he said. “There are a lot of different paths
you can take, a lot of different tools that you need to learn how to use.”
Rick Lofy on Boot Camp #15
Over 350 individuals applied to participate in CNC Boot Camp #15, only twenty were accepted after the eleven step screening
process. At the end of week nine, all twenty students were still enrolled in the program. Boot Camp coordinator Rick Lofy
could not do it without a talented group of instructors including; Neil Peterson (Intro to Offsets, Intro to CNC and Run-Time), Saad
Yousuf (Math), Merlin Cayemberg (Blueprints), and Larry Wilkins (Oral Communications). Students have the opportunity to
become certified in MSSC Safety, Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt, and gauging and inspection through Lofy if their grades meet
the standards. Workforce safety is stressed during the boot camps. Students also learn soft skills or “people skills” through
training conducted by the Racine County Workforce Development Center, which helps them to develop professionally in areas
such as team work or contingency planning. The skills they learn in the boot camp prepare them for these high demand careers and how to be
responsible and dependable employees. Lofy said that the most fulfilling part as an instructor is “Seeing them get jobs, and having them come
back and say that now that I have been working I know how real it is” as they learn to apply the skills they learned at the boot camp.
Equal Opportunity Employer and Educator
Footnotes is published by the Workforce & Economic Development Division of Gateway Technical College in partnership with
Funding in part, made possible with the support of SC Johnson & Sons, A Family Company.
CNC Boot Camps Workforce and Economic
Development Division (WEDD)
2320 Renaissance Blvd
Sturtevant, WI 53177
www.gtc.edu/wedd/boot-camps
BOOT CAMP #15
Completion Ceremony
Mark your calendars to attend the Boot Camp Completion Ceremony. Date: December 14, 2012 Time: 1:00-3:00 PM Located at: Gateway Technical College’s Racine Building, Michigan Room.
Success Story - It took nearly two decades for Al Steel (pictured above) to enter a career that has been on his mind since he first was
exposed to it at a Chicago factory. Al, unemployed for 14 months, jumped at the chance to receive training at the most recent CNC Boot Camp.
Al says the boot camp provides him with the skills and training needed to enter a career which will give him the ability to support his family with
solid pay and possibilities for advancement. “This helps me to be a productive family man,” he said. “Before this happened, I wasn’t happy, I
wasn’t being productive.” Al worked as a butcher in a Green Bay slaughterhouse for years before moving to Kenosha in 2010 for family reasons.
He said the work was very messy with all the blood, very stressful, unsafe
and offered little room for advancement. Moving back to Kenosha repre-
sented a new start, but Al didn’t initially engage in it. He looked for a job,
but could find none. He finally saw a notice for the boot camp and acted
immediately. “The opportunity presented itself, and I jumped at it,” he said.
Al said the program provides students solid, hands-on training they will
need in the workplace. This includes some of the soft skills in the structure
and discipline of working and focusing on the job at hand every day. The
boot camp program follows a rigorous schedule of eight hour days, every
weekday for more than three months. “The program is excellent, it’s a life-
changing experience for me,” he said. “It’s very intense, and you have to
dedicate your life and work for these 15 weeks to succeed.” Al said the
hands-on, run-time portion of the boot camp was his favorite, as well as
blueprint reading, which started out as the area he dreaded most. “It was
tough to see it in three dimensions,” he said. “I finally was able to grasp it
through the tutoring offered by the program. It’s just another example of
the program giving you all the resources you need to succeed.”
ISSUE 15 November 2012
Boot Camp to Apprenticeship
Employers, did you know that a candidate from the boot camps can be hired as an apprentice?
A contract will be drawn up between the apprentice, the employer, and the State of Wisconsin.
Gateway Technical College will then set up the courses and the apprentice will attend one eight
hour day per week, and the rest is on the job training. This training will pick up where the boot
camp left off, resulting in a journey-worker status. This is a way to “grow your own” with the
schooling and skills to back it up.
Contact: Sandy Brietzman, Apprenticeship Training Representative with the Bureau of
Apprenticeship Standards at [email protected] or 262-564-3210.
Upcoming CNC Boot Camps
CNC XVI: January 2013
CNC XVII: May 2013
Contact one of the following Workforce Development Center
(WDC) representatives for additional information and
application materials:
Kenosha: Rich Salisbury, [email protected]
Racine: Mark Mundl, [email protected]
Walworth: Marilyn Putz, [email protected]
As an employer, if you are interesting in learning more about
Boot Camp programs contact either Robin Hoke at Gateway,
[email protected] or Valerie Hanson at the Racine County
Workforce Development Center, [email protected].
Equal Opportunity Employer and Educator
Footnotes is published by the Workforce & Economic Development Division of Gateway Technical College in partnership with
Funding in part, made possible with the support of SC Johnson & Sons, A Family Company.
