“If you’re peaking over at power generation, that’s a different certification than it is for oil and gas, and that’s different from defense, which is different than commercial,” Polacek says. “You have to be willing to learn, and get different certifications or just different technologies in manufacturing based on different industries. So, that’s harder to find those folks.”
At the same time that they couldn’t find skilled technicians, Polacek was talking to local high schools about entrepreneurship — which is something he says he wished he knew more about at that age.
“Everybody is telling their kids to go to college,” he says. “And nobody wants to send their kid to a vocational school or have them working with their hands. So we had a very hard time getting kids that were interested in this field.”
He knew firsthand how much their parents were pressuring them to get an education.
“One of my mantras is the best way to predict the future is to create it,” he says. “So if you want to have a better predictability with getting people that you need, you have to go out there and create the plan that encourages the type of people that you’re looking for.”
… And filling it
Polacek had an epiphany that he could work with the community college in Johnstown to develop the first local associates program in welding technology. He put money upfront for a teacher, alongside a grant that paid for equipment, and within a year the program was up and running.
“But the hardest part was getting kids interested,” he says. “We were lucky to have three kids in the program, and now they’ve had some instances where they had to turn kids away. In fact, we hired a second teacher.”
The classes are on JWF Industries’ campus, and not only attract students who weren’t originally thinking of going into welding, but also gives the company an ability to improve its own employees’ skills.
After setting up the associates program, Polacek was invited to a national meeting on the future of manufacturing by the secretary of commerce.
He shared what he had done to encourage more interest in manufacturing, and spoke to others about additional ideas. One of his takeaways from the White House meeting was to open his doors to school tours.
So, he worked to bring his company and its products to the attention of younger children, in order to spark interest.
“Nearly every school in the area has visited our facility — gone through and saw the technology — and it’s been an eye-opening experience,” he says. “The schools have said that’s all the kids talk about. They didn’t realize what this was all about.”
With robotics, lasers and computer-based technology, it’s not their grandfather’s steel mill, Polacek says.
Also, the employees can be involved in a lot of different fields, such as supply chain management, engineering, accounting or IT.
If you want better workforce predictability, Polacek recommends exposing junior high school students to exactly what you do — because by the time they get to high school they may have already made up their minds. This can overcome their preconceived notions or even put your company on their radar screen.
