CMC Report
June 2025 – by Al Mangels
The NESMA Technical Development Committee met on June 11th, 2025.
As the school year was winding down, we took the opportunity to take a somewhat retrospective look at the school year, during which the NESMA TDC announced, promoted, sponsored and otherwise participated in over thirty events. We asked each attendee about their experiences over the last year, and what they might announce for summer programs.
Naugatuck Valley Community College (NVCC) – Sharon Lutkus – As far as this summer, they have a 4-week summer camp program starting 6/23, but they are not accepting any more students. It looks like the fall will be the next step. Besides the normal cohorts, they will be offering a noncredit course in Blueprint Reading I from 9/29-11/17, on Mondays from 5:30-8:30pm.
Tunxis Community College – Jordan Dombroski – CCSU Tunxis enrollment is looking strong. The biggest hurdle is the need for instructors.They are offering Manufacturing Discovery Days this summer on the last three Fridays in July. This program is so students can get more information on a manufacturing career. It’s $30 for registration, 18 and older or any age. There are also Middle School blueprint courses and STEAM programs in the summer, with 5 registered students for June. It was mentioned that a NESMA meeting in person could be held at Tunxis.
Plainville High Schools and Adult Ed – Lynn Davis / Jill O’Brien. Participation on this committee is appreciated, and they are grateful for opportunities. Acme Monaco had a tour where students had an inside look at manufacturing sites. They Loved the Wafios webinar, “top notch with live demonstrations.” They would like to see more in the future and have had more job shadows. There will be Career Gallery on Oct. 3rd, 2025, and they will hold free Adult Ed courses in July.
Other CTEC Schools – Larry Pomerleau – With a new Executive Director & new superintendent, it’s been a good school year for manufacturing – 1304 students, with 181 placed and 72 registered pre-apprentices. The Bristol Works welding program is also still growing. The State Department of Ed has been a great support.
CCAT – Eileen Candels – CCAT is still promoting pre-apprenticeship funding – companies with less than 299 employees can get subsidies. College Internship registrations are still open . Lunchtime webinars are underway in Digital Transformation in Manufacturing and AI in manufacturing – Depending on the size, companies might be eligible for some funding. On September 17th , a public tour of CCAT will be available.
ReadyCT – Deb Presbie – More roadshows are coming up in the fall. A recent STEM pilot project program, so parents can come in along with the students, had particularly good feedback. It’s unknown when, but it’s expected it will be done again.
Workforce Solutions Collaborative of Metro Hartford – Enrique Juncadella – It’s been a transformational year working with AMEP. The relationship with Workforce Strategy has helped. They are energized with their connection with NESMA and remain committed to supporting and working with employers for career opportunities. Looking forward to continuing the relationships.
NESMA – Diane Hunter reports job shadows are active at Acme Monaco, and they are hiring students. Lucas Karabin adds that Diane does a great job with internships and workforce development takes time and effort.
WAFIOS – Markus Arnold commented that they run an exceptionally large apprenticeship program, so they are happy to help with raising a passion for young people to get involved in manufacturing. This committee is a great combination of participants.
CONNSTEP reminds us that the Cybersecurity Grant is now expanded from $10K to max $35K. The Cybersecurity Adoption Program (CAP) is designed to support Connecticut manufacturing companies seeking Cyber Security assessments and CMMC Certification. The goal is to help companies striving to meet federal cybersecurity requirements. Up to $10K can used for a Cyber Assessment with the balance allocated to remediation.
NESMA Website – Andrea Tarantino reports many website enhancements this year: Created an industry events calendar, listed Manufacturing Discovery Days and listed other NESMA members’ events. Also, under Education section, the archives of our Technical Committee agendas and reports are available for download. Legislative CMC Reports are available on homepage. NESMA Job Connections, Internship Opportunities and Apprenticeship Programs can be used for students and job candidates to apply and reach over 80 business members. Success stories will be shared. Focusing on increasing the value of being a NESMA member.
Looking ahead to the fall, NESMA and Wafios are planning a regional training session in Spring End Grinding, with a target date of September 23rd. The prospective venue is the Wafios facility in Branford. This would not be for students per se, but rather for the NESMA members’ workforce that engages in spring end grinding operations. (i.e., incumbent workers). The content will be similar to the joint SMI / Wafios in-person grinding training event held last year in Mokena, IL, and is applicable to almost any type or brand of grinding equipment, but in a shorter, approximately 6-hour, format. We are still inquiring as to whether the cost of attending the training session could be covered by the CT Incumbent Worker Training Program (IWT) as administered by CCAT, whereby eligible employers could recoup half of the cost of their employees’ attendance. More to follow.
The next NESMA Technical Development Meeting is scheduled for July 9th (2:00 – 3:00 PM). The theme of this meeting will be to look forward and further develop the vision of what a workforce pipeline, including all stakeholders, would look like in our region.
We’d love to hear from more NESMA members about this subject. The Tech Committee is doing what it’s doing, but how successful is it, and what results are being provided? Please feel free to join any of our meetings, or comment some other way.
I can be reached at amangels@leespring.com