The Millstream Career Center Expansion: Investing in Tomorrow's Workforce

Episode Summary:

In this episode of Chamber Amplified from the Findlay-Hancock County Chamber of Commerce, host Doug Jenkins sits down with Pam Hamlin from the Millstream Career Center to discuss the latest expansion at the Center and its projected impact on workforce development in the Findlay and Hancock County area. The episode dives into how local schools and businesses can collaborate to make sure local educational offerings align with community workforce needs.

Pam Hamlin takes listeners through the details of Millstream Career Center’s new enhanced engineering and robotics lab. She talks about how this development will accommodate more students and how these students are positioned for a more seamless transition into the workforce or higher education. The discussion also explores the importance of changing perceptions about careers in manufacturing and its potential to excite students and meet employer demands.

Key Takeaways:

• Millstream Career Center’s expansion includes state-of-the-art engineering and robotics labs, supported by a $3.4 million grant.
• The new facilities aim to increase student enrollment by providing more seats and offering modern, hands-on learning opportunities.
• The center’s curriculum is designed with input from local manufacturers to ensure alignment with community workforce needs.
• There is an active effort to reshape student perceptions of manufacturing roles, showcasing them as innovative and essential for economic growth.
• Pam emphasizes the importance of collaboration among local schools and industry partners to prepare students for diverse career pathways.

Music and sound effects obtained from https://www.zapsplat.com

Transcript

0:00:03 - (Doug Jenkins): Hello and welcome to the show. I'm Doug Jenkins from the Findlay Hancock County Chamber of Commerce. On each episode of Chamber Amplified, we're examining issues impacting the local business community. From employee recruitment and retention to marketing IT issues. It's really anything that could be impacting your business or the business community as a whole. Our goal is to give the local business community tips each week on at least one way they can improve operations and thrive in the current business business environment.

0:00:30 - (Doug Jenkins): Today, we're focusing on the future of the local workforce. How do we develop people to go to work in the area out of high school, whether it's out of college, what have you? We want to have good options for them, but we also want to have a workforce that's ready to go. Well, investment in the Millstream Career center will have an impact on that collaboration between local businesses in the community as well as area schools, all factoring into an expansion of the Millstream center that will be unveiled by very early next month. Pam Hamlin of the Millstream Career center is our guest today. She'll be talking about the expansion of the facility, what it means in the short and long term for both the career center and workforce development in the region.

0:01:11 - (Doug Jenkins): Again, remember to rate and review this show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify. Wherever you can rate and review the show, please do that. It really does help spread the word. Now, let's get into it. Joined on the podcast now by Pam Hamlin of the Millstrom Career Center. Pam, thanks for joining us today.

0:01:27 - (Pam Hamlin): Thank you for having me.

0:01:28 - (Doug Jenkins): Well, it's a big month for you leading up to big doings on October 2nd with the ribbon cutting and an expansion at the Millstream Career Center. Let's talk about everything that is going on there and why it's such a big deal.

0:01:42 - (Pam Hamlin): Yes. Okay. Well, a couple years ago, actually, we had applied for a $3.4 million grant to expand our engineering and robotics lab, but also to add a manufacturing facility. And so we received that to. Actually, it was two grants. One was for the expansion and one was for equipment. And so last year we started, we broke ground and we have just completed the two new labs and we just put our first class of kids in there just a few weeks ago.

0:02:16 - (Pam Hamlin): So super excited about this expansion. It does allow for more opportunities for kids to pick from our programming, but also more seats to offer as well.

0:02:24 - (Doug Jenkins): A lot of different advantages to having this one. Like you said, more seats overall in the program. And this is something that I think everybody's been very happy with. Millstream is that it's in demand. And getting into Millstream is no like you have to want to be in there, which I think helps produce quality students out of it. But also being able to get more students in means more opportunity going forward. How many more students are able to take part now?

0:02:51 - (Pam Hamlin): Well, we always get that question. So right now, adding a new lab will allow us to, if we put 20 kids in a class or so, give or take, we can add 60 more students. Just with the one manufacturing program alone. With the engineering class, we've always had a decent number in there as far as between anywhere between 20 and 25 students, but they were in a very cramped facility. So this will allow that. It doesn't add capacity there, but it allows them to do a lot more for opportunity because they're in a much larger location with up to date equipment and that kind of thing. So overall, adding 60 new seats to the program over time, we're excited because when we recruited for this program last year for manufacturing, the kids had nothing to see and so now they're able to see that. So over time it will, I guarantee it's going to fill.

0:03:47 - (Pam Hamlin): Right now we have, I think about 15 kids or so as a junior in that class and then obviously as a senior, that allows us to bring more juniors in next year, but just excited about the opportunities. We've been sitting on a lot of calls with manufacturers in our area and they've really been, you know, begging for us to really get a hold of how we can have kids ready to go into the workforce. And so we've taken a really different approach.

0:04:17 - (Pam Hamlin): So we researched a lot of schools around the state of Ohio and high school manufacturing classes are hard to recruit for.

0:04:25 - (Doug Jenkins): Right.

0:04:26 - (Pam Hamlin): Okay. You know, I think when people hear manufacturing, they think of assembly line work, they think of dark and dirty, dingy environments and so forth. So we've taken a different approach and we know that the word robotics is super exciting for kids. And we certainly know that that's an opportunity for kids to grasp onto something that they think is cool. So we have taken the approach of as juniors, the robotics and the engineering students will take the same coursework as our manufacturing and industrial robotics kids.

0:04:59 - (Pam Hamlin): So that they're all getting, you know, some engineering design and machine tool application their junior year and then senior year we're going to allow them to pick their pathway. Do they want to go into the manufacturing, which is like a maintenance technician route, or do they want to go into the advanced design and do something more with CAD and so forth, and do the traditional engineering route. So we've never done that as have a senior year where they can pick what path they want to go after they've all had the same kind of robust instruction as a junior.

0:05:32 - (Pam Hamlin): So we'll see if that works. We're excited because we've been able to add a ton of equipment. I've got a whole list in front of me here. You know, the Fanuc robots, the three. We have eight 3D printers down there, laser cutters, like just a full scope of equipment that these kids will get the exposure to. And we should have our kids prepared for either whether they're going to go right into the workforce or whether they're going to further their education and get some type of an engineering or a manufacturing degree of some type. They'll come out with credentials.

0:06:06 - (Pam Hamlin): They're going to have college credit attached to the courses. So, you know, we're not. We're not pigeonholing kids into one particular field per se, but giving them. One of our. One of our advisory members actually used the term eight miles wide, but only a foot deep. And that's what we're doing. We're giving exposure to a lot of things and instead of going in depth with just one particular content area.

0:06:33 - (Pam Hamlin): So we're. We're anxious to see where this goes.

0:06:36 - (Doug Jenkins): You mentioned kids being interested when you throw the terms robotics in there. I'm also. I grew up watching Transformers. So you say robots, I think Optimus Prime. You know, absolutely, let's. That was a horrible joke. I apologize. You said you heard a lot of feedback from manufacturers in the area as you were putting this together. What kind of input were they able to give when you were putting curriculum together, maybe setting up the labs, things like that?

0:07:03 - (Doug Jenkins): How were they able to help guide the program?

0:07:06 - (Pam Hamlin): Yeah, sure. So we had several at several different points. But starting with the writing of the grant, we had input about what our manufacturers wanted. We leaned on some folks to give us input when it came time to ordering equipment. And then we had a really good hire. I'm going to be honest with you, we stole them from another place, but the Sylvania STEM center in Sylvania, Ohio. We were able to capture their director of that center. And he is our teacher now in the engineering and robotics lab.

0:07:39 - (Pam Hamlin): And so he did that for us last year, and he came on board full fledged with a mission and a vision for this center. And so he, along with another robotics teacher locally, Blake Delaney and Tom Burnworth, together were kind of the brains once we got it up and once we Kind of got the idea flowing. Then they both were new teachers. They came in and I said, okay, now this is going to be your program. So what are you envisioning this to be?

0:08:05 - (Pam Hamlin): We toured Apollo Career center, we toured manufacturers to just, and sit down conversations with them to figure out what it is that we really needed to expose our kids to. And then we went to town just building and creating that. And so when, if you come to our ribbon cutting, you'll be able to see the technology that the kids will be working with and just, I can't even tell you the amount of space that allows them to get creative and problem solve and explore.

0:08:34 - (Pam Hamlin): We also, for the first time last year, with the help of Mr. Burnworth, exposed the kids for the first time ever to the first robotics competitions. Those are national competitions and we competed several places last year. And the kids just, it was a real world opportunity for them to practice their skills. And then I laughed because at the first competition they said they crashed and burned a couple times. They had to go back and rebuild their robot.

0:09:02 - (Pam Hamlin): And then at the whole second competition in another city, they were able, after they had one competition under their belt, really be able to explore exactly what they needed to do and, you know, try to up their, their game at the next competition. And, and that's really what it's about is, is giving kids opportunities to fail, practice and learn and grow from, from, from their errors. And so this lab is filled with lots of opportunities in that regard.

0:09:27 - (Doug Jenkins): How important was it for you? Just from an educational standpoint and somebody who's, who's very tied with the community to deliver a program that answers actual needs in the community and not just sort of an overarching view of what Millstream center can be. It seems it's very specialized, it's very targeted to helping the needs of the community, which I think is very unique. Right, as you've talked about.

0:09:51 - (Pam Hamlin): Yeah, that's I think, been our mission along with all of our programs. And we've had to really be in tune to and put our ear to the ground. We sit in a lot of community conversations. I can not in reference to manufacturing right here. But like another example I can give would be we sat in a conversation for over a year that talked about how we need mental health technicians. And so our mental health or our health profession students, we were able to get with our advisor, our teachers, and work with their advisors on rebuilding that program. And so they now students in that arena can get an opportunity to get a mental health technician license.

0:10:31 - (Pam Hamlin): They can be credentialed in that area. And then we were able to pivot and instead of doing stna, we were able to add a medical assisting that was all based on conversations we had with community and advisors in the community. So we do that for all of our programs. But in regards to this new program, I mean, we're certainly not going to spend the time, money and effort into building something that is not applicable to our community.

0:10:55 - (Pam Hamlin): And so that's what was really important, that, you know, although something sounds good, is it realistic for high school kids? One, is it going to be applicable when they graduate? And that's always our mission. So we certainly leaned on our business partners. Every one of our programs has an advisory board and we asked them and if we have to do more research, we certainly do that. But once we start to hear patterns of things that we need and that we can help, maybe support, we come back and we have that conversation amongst our staff.

0:11:27 - (Pam Hamlin): And sometimes it works out beautifully and other times it's like we just don't have the time or the money. I mean, let's be honest, those are the two things that sometimes get in the way. But we try to certainly do what we can to fill the workforce needs.

0:11:41 - (Doug Jenkins): When, when you look at how things are going so far, obviously it's very early. We've only had a couple of schools so far and there are benchmarks I'm sure that you want to hit. But just preliminary and kind of anecdotally, what have you seen so far that leads you to believe that this was definitely the heading in the right direction?

0:12:02 - (Pam Hamlin): Well, I think one thing that I see right off the bat is the enthusiasm from the students. Certainly a bright new shiny lab filled with equipment makes things exciting. Right? But I really see the kids, I was just down there moments ago and they're a lot of hands on activities. They're really engaged in their learning. I know it's only the third week of school, but I certainly see the excitement taking place and you know, it doesn't look like you're walking into a manufacturing lab in their, in their terms, you know, and so we're trying to change the perception and the kids are really buying into it and I just look for exciting things to continue down there.

0:12:43 - (Doug Jenkins): You mentioned the excitement of it, and I think that's maybe the thing, if we can highlight the most, is that these are programs that are in need, will help the community, and best of all, the kids who are in them are excited to be a part of it, which means they might be excited to Be a part of the workforce here and be a part of Hancock county and Findlay going forward. How hard is it to convey that part of the message of what they're doing? And just the excitement that they cut they have when they come into the building every day to be working on something that's tangible to their future.

0:13:17 - (Pam Hamlin): They're not dumb when it comes to like, is this real world? Am I going to ever use this? You know, so when we can connect those dots for them and show them that what they're learning in the classroom relates to this in this way. And that's what I think we do a pretty good job of here at Millstream is showing them the why behind their learning and then when the kids can practice it. So kids get a lot of work based learning opportunities where it's not just reading it through a textbook or hearing their teacher stand up in front of the sparkboard and deliver the content.

0:13:53 - (Pam Hamlin): It's practicing it in a real world situation. So going into the lab now, we're going to practice it and see it in firsthand and then practice it in a, in a situation, you know, in a manufacturing facility. We will have kids have the opportunity to have internships and opportunities where they can job shadow and do things that will give them the front row view of what they're learning and how it applies to, to different positions and different settings.

0:14:23 - (Doug Jenkins): If people want to learn more about the new program or really any Millstream programs, what is the best way to go about doing that? I know during the course of the year you'll have sophomores come out and start to do their tour and learn more about it. But if parents want to learn a little bit more too, what's the best way to do that?

0:14:38 - (Pam Hamlin): Okay, well certainly they can go to our millstream website, themillstreamcc.org that is one way to get. Just see a, a quick overview of what we offer. I say pick up the phone and call. We welcome tours. Visits. It doesn't matter when it is. We can give you a tour. We give tours, I would say multiple times a week to different groups of people. We give them to just parents and families if they have a child that might be interested. But yes, all in and around.

0:15:07 - (Pam Hamlin): So we service three counties. We have Wyandotte, Putnam and Hancock. And those groups of kids at 9th grade will come and do a tour and they Also then as 10th graders come back and do a tour as well. So they have two opportunities if they, if they go to one of our 14 high schools. But anybody can come and see, and October 2nd, I just, you know, we're doing our ribbon cutting at 12:30 and we're sending invitations out for that.

0:15:31 - (Pam Hamlin): But from 3 to 5pm anyone can come. So we'll be putting that out on social media here yet I think tomorrow it actually launches. But just an opportunity for people to come and see our kids in action. They're going to be here, they're going to be running the machinery, having an opportunity. It's still so early into the program, but just, you know, come in and see what we're excited about and then we're going to grow and work together with our, with our community on this. So this isn't like we're going to shut the doors and, you know, we're going to continue to tap into.

0:16:00 - (Pam Hamlin): What do you think? How do you think this is, this is going, Is this really what's relevant? What is relevant that we need to be teaching our kids? And so we are always open to ideas and suggestions. We do ask for, you know, if you have an idea, shoot it to us because we may be able to grasp it and run with it. Anything that could provide real world application to our kids. And again, don't be offended if we can't do it. Sometimes that time, just time constraints get in the way. But we love to be asked to have opportunities like that. And certainly we've, we've been able to do a lot, I would think, with community partners around over the years to be able to give our kids that, that experience and also provide a product or something that the community needs.

0:16:45 - (Pam Hamlin): So we're hoping we're going to pump out some workers through these new programs. And you know, we want these kids, if they go off to college, we want them to come back and work in our community. And so that's half the battle too is they need to know what's out there and what's available to us right here in our local area so that they, they stay, they come back and stay here and we're, and be a good, you know, citizen here.

0:17:06 - (Pam Hamlin): So we're, we're excited to see where this goes and it's been a long time coming. I do have to give a shout out to our visionaries. From the very beginning, our grant writers. We had Kate Murray, Kyle Watts, Mark Gleason, myself, Jodi Galletto. We came to the table and we just brainstormed and said, what can we do? And then, you know, anytime you write a grant, it's cumbersome. And then you hold your, you kind of cross your fingers and Hope you get it. And when we, when we received where we were the last grant in the state to be selected, we then they didn't fund our whole project so we had to go back to our associate schools and say how important do you want this? And how you know. And so they were able to, we were able to use some money from our partner districts to finish the project. But it's here and we're excited and we hardly can believe it because we've been watching it, like I said, for a couple years now. So now that we see little bodies in there working, that's what it's all about and we'll see what these kids end up doing.

0:18:07 - (Doug Jenkins): Well, Pam, we're excited for you. We're looking forward to doing the ribbon cutting there on October 2nd. Thanks for joining us today.

0:18:13 - (Pam Hamlin): Thank you for having me and we'll see you then.

0:18:16 - (Doug Jenkins): Certainly. We're looking forward to the ribbon cutting and open house on October 2nd. Be sure to check out the details on that in the show Notes. It's really great to see collaboration between local schools and area businesses making sure that resources are aligned. And this is just one big highlight of that. It really all is part of a larger conversation about workforce development and post high school options that we want to keep continuing to have here on the podcast.

0:18:40 - (Doug Jenkins): There are a lot of people working to make sure that we maintain a healthy workforce. And it's not just all straight into the trades, it's not just all straight to college. It's a good mix of both which we have in Hancock County. Happy that we have a platform to talk about that here. And if you know someone who has questions about the workforce development topic in the area, make sure to forward them this episode and get them in the loop.

0:19:01 - (Doug Jenkins): That'll do it for this week's episode. Chamber Amplified is a free podcast for the community thanks to the investment of members in the Findlay Hancock County Chamber of Commerce. Because of our robust membership, we're able to focus on providing timely information to the Findlay and Hancock county business community from leadership programs for adults and teenagers. Be an advocate for the area and that's all while providing tools to help local businesses succeed.

0:19:23 - (Doug Jenkins): And if that sounds like something you'd like to be a part of, just let me know and we can talk about how an investment in the Chamber not only helps strengthen your business, but the community as a whole. And of course, if you have ideas for topics that you'd like to hear covered on future episodes, send me an email. Djenkinsindleyhancockchamber.com thanks again for listening. We'll see you next time on Chamber Amplified. From the Findlay Hancock County Chamber of Commerce.

0:19:47 - (Pam Hamlin): It.