PrepareRI Internship Applications Now Available
Current High School Juniors Can Apply for Paid Summer Internships with Rhode Island’s Top Employers

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Applications for the third year of the Prepare Rhode Island (PrepareRI) Internship Program are now available and will be accepted through December 31, 2019. Launched in the summer of 2018, the PrepareRI Internship Program provides paid summer internships to rising high school seniors, who also have the opportunity to earn up to four college credits at no cost.

Students can apply online on the PrepareRI website.

Last year, 326 students participated, working at 75 partner companies and organizations statewide. PrepareRI Internship employers represent a diverse array of industries, from health care and finance to technology and public policy, including some of the state’s leading businesses, such as Amgen, Bank of America, CVS, Citizen’s Bank, FM Global, Gilbane, Hasbro, Lifespan, Nordson and Teknor Apex.

“PrepareRI is kicking off another year of connecting students with opportunities to learn new skills and earn money by doing real, hands-on work,” said Governor Raimondo. “The experience that students gain during their internships will help them succeed—both in the classroom and in the workforce. It’s critical that we give students the opportunity to develop their skills while still in high school.”

The internship program is one component of PrepareRI, a statewide initiative aligned to industry to prepare all Rhode Island youth for success in college and career. This comprehensive statewide strategy also includes dual and concurrent enrollment early college opportunities, career and technical education, Advanced Placement and the Advanced Course Network, among others.

The initiative represents a strategic partnership between Rhode Island government, private industry leaders, the public education system, universities, employers, and non-profits across the state. The Governor’s Workforce Board (GWB) is one of the agencies helping to coordinate the PrepareRI work overall and is the lead agency for the PrepareRI Internship Program. GWB works with an independent non-profit intermediary, Skills for Rhode Island’s Future (SkillsRI), which identifies and matches students to internship opportunities.

“The PrepareRI Internship Program provides our young people with access to real-life work experiences and professional mentors right here in Rhode Island,” said Mike Grey, chair of the Governor’s Workforce Board. “The program gives students the chance to build essential skills and explore career paths, but also helps ensure that our employers have a pipeline of talent that is prepared to thrive in the workplace and drive our state’s economy forward.”

To participate in the internship, students must apply by December 31, 2019, and then attend an orientation session with a parent or guardian in January or February. Students are then invited to interview for job opportunities, often going through the interview and resume writing process for the first time. From there, students attend a Work Readiness Boot Camp, a 40-hour, week-long onboarding in June that prepares them for what they will face in the workforce. The Boot Camp covers important work skills like public speaking, team building, problem solving, and the expectations of employers.

In July and August, students ultimately accepted to the program will complete between 150 and 240 hours of the paid internship with their matched employer.

“The PrepareRI program is an excellent opportunity for students to gain real work experience that will help guide their future academic and career goals while building a pipeline of future talent for employers in the state,” said Nina Pande, Executive Director of Skills for Rhode Island’s Future.

PrepareRI launched in 2018, after Rhode Island was one of only 10 states awarded New Skills for Youth funding from JPMorgan Chase and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). Learn more about PrepareRI and how students, educators, and employers can get involved at Prepare-RI.org

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Skills for Rhode Island’s Future (SkillsRI) Announced as Job Recruitment Partner for Boston Energy Wind Power Services Inc.

U.K-based company will establish headquarters in Providence, RI and immediately begin to recruit for operations, administrative, and wind turbine technician jobs.

(Providence, RI), September 30, 2019 – Approximately one month following an announcement from United Kingdom-based Boston Energy that the company plans to anchor their U.S. operations in Providence, RI, Skills for Rhode Island’s Future (SkillsRI) has been selected by Boston Energy Wind Power Services, Inc. as the recruitment partner for a number of administrative and technician roles which will help the company establish its workforce in the United States.

The search kicked off earlier this week for the first U.S.-based role, a Territory/Operations Manager who will support the build out of the rest of the team which will include Account Managers and Wind Turbine Technicians.

Individuals with and without technical experience are encouraged to apply for positions as the company is offering generous paid training to beginner and entry-level technicians. Administrative and technician roles require various levels of travel domestically, with an interval-style schedule on location and then back home.

“Boston Energy Wind Power Services Inc. are delighted to partner with Skills for Rhode Island’s future,”
said Robert Wilhoite, Vice President of Operations for Boston Energy Wind Power Services, Inc. “They have a deep, and intricate understanding of multiple sectors from a recruitment perspective in and around the Rhode Island State. With Boston Energy Wind Power Services Inc. having set up an office in Providence, Skills for Rhode Island are the ideal partner to run our recruitment processes having such strong local and regional knowledge. We look forward to a successful working relationship and very positive outcomes for all involved.”

Boston Energy Wind Power Services offers the opportunity to build a career with a well-established and reputable company from the U.K entering the U.S. market, in an industry that is evolving and growing rapidly both onshore and offshore. Individuals with experience in renewable energy, modern manufacturing techniques, composite materials, U.S. Military Veterans, vocational and technical education graduates are a few examples of individuals who may thrive.

“Rhode Island is becoming a hub for the renewable energy sector, boosting the state’s economy and creating 21st century jobs in one of the nation’s fastest growing industries,” said Nina Pande, Executive Director for Skills for Rhode Island’s Future. “Skills for Rhode Island’s Future is thrilled to partner with Boston Energy Wind Power Services Inc. to help find them top talent for a number of positions and ensure that Rhode Islanders are prepared for exciting careers in wind energy.”

Individuals interested in applying should contact Skills for Rhode Island’s Future directly at 401-680-5960 or visit the job board to apply for roles with Boston Energy Wind Power Services, Inc.

https://jobs.skillsforri.com/jb/Operations-Manager-Boston-Energy-Wind-Power-Services-Inc-Jobs-in-/4764200

https://jobs.skillsforri.com/jb/Wind-Turbine-Technician-Boston-Energy-Wind-Power-Services-Inc-Jobs-in-/4770312

 

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About Boston Energy Wind Power

Boston Energy Wind Power Services Inc. is a leading provider of construction, operations and maintenance, inspection, repair and technical training services to the renewable energy industry. Boston Energy Wind Power Services employs a large team of technicians who are highly skilled, experienced and have been selected due to transferable technical backgrounds. The U.K-based organization will be setting up their U.S. headquarters in Providence, RI.

About Skills for Rhode Island’s Future

Skills for Rhode Island’s Future (SkillsRI) is a non-profit working to match businesses that have current, unmet hiring needs with qualified, unemployed and underemployed Rhode Island job seekers.

SkillsRI is excited to announce that we have partnered with Worthington Industries/AMTROL! Are you interested in a career in Manufacturing? Worthington Industries/AMTROL currently has openings for Welders, Forklift Operators, Shipping/Receiving Supervisors, and more! Apply directly at www.skillsforri.com or contact Duncan at 401-680-5974 or dermer@skillsforri.com.

The application for our 2019 PrepareRI Summer Internship Program is now OPEN! All public high school juniors are encouraged to apply for one of 300 available internship spots summer 2019! Get ready to EARN, LEARN & CONNECT! https://bit.ly/2ragAB8

WESTERLY — Greg Viveiros wasn’t sure what to do when Toys R Us went out of business in June, putting an end to his three years as an assistant store manager.

The Warwick resident talked with his wife and the couple agreed that he would take the summer to research his options. “I knew I wanted a career, not just a job,” he said in an interview on Thursday.

In time he learned about a process technology class that was due to start in the fall at the Westerly Education Center. He applied, was accepted, and on Friday completed week six of the 10-week program. Process technology refers to functions and skills common in a variety of industries. The 300-hour program covers chemical processing, sampling and measuring; fluid mechanics; computer control and monitoring systems; basic electricity, pump and valve operations and the basics of material engineering.

On Friday an audience of more than 100 gathered at the Friendship Street facility to celebrate the addition of chemistry and biology labs at the center. The labs are used by the process technology students and instructors. The biology lab will allow the center to expand its course offerings to include the Community College of Rhode Island’s Oceanography, Biology in the Modern World and general geology classes that are set to start in January.

Completion of the labs represents a significant milestone for the education center, which has become a national model, said Brenda Dann-Messier, state commissioner for postsecondary education. The center has created “a pipeline of trained Rhode Islanders to meet the workforce needs of employers and provide well-paying full-time jobs for our residents … and better jobs leads to a better economy,” Messier said.

Under the leadership of Thomas M. Sabbagh, dean of business, science, technology and math, CCRI developed the curriculum for the process technology program. Sabbagh is also credited with playing a significant role in the education center success in winning a Real Jobs Partnership grant for the program, which is offered for free to students.

Although the program is a non-credit offering, Sabbagh said the curriculum was subject to the same type of review and input from the college’s faculty and administration that for-credit courses receive.

“This is only the beginning. Having state of the art labs means we can expand into lots of areas,” Sabbagh said.

Charles “Chuck” Royce, the mutual fund founder and community benefactor whose vision and financial generosity gave rise to creation of the education center, said he became convinced of the value of community colleges while serving on the board of Norwalk Community College in Connecticut. “We’d go through the halls and look into the classes and I realized these folks are here because they want to be, not because they have to be…it was life changing for me,” Royce said.

CCRI and the state’s two other higher education institutions have a presence in the education center, which is also used by private colleges and universities, businesses, and the state Department of Labor and Training. Royce credited his lawyer, Thomas J. Liguori Jr., with helping to develop “the idea for flexible space that could be used for many institutions.”

At the age of 40, Viveiros is just about in the middle of the pack. Students in the process technology program range in age from 19 to 68. Viveiros acknowledged having a level of apprehension toward the beginning of the class.

“I was a little worried about going back to school after not going to college and being out of school for about 25 years, but once I got that first week done I kind of eased back into it,” Viveiros said.

The 16 students in the class were recruited by Skills for Rhode Island’s Future, a Providence-based statewide career readiness intermediary. The non-profit organization works with businesses and unemployed or underemployed residents in association with Gov. Gina Raimondo’s Workforce Board. The agency is currently recruiting individuals for the second cohort of the program.

The education center offers one-on-one remedial math assistance for students who need it, as well as counseling for students who might be anxious about returning to a classroom after a long absence from formal education. The counselors also help potential students find day care and transportation.

The math assistance and the counseling are provided by the Tricounty Community Action Agency. In short, the center tries to help with “anything that might be a barrier to being in a classroom for 10 weeks, five days a week,” said Beth Bailey, a spokeswoman for the education center.

Viveiros said he was initially interested in food processing but more recently has started to think about working at a brewery when he completes the course. But he is keeping his options open. “We’re continuing to take field trips and meet with the different businesses,” he said.

Amgen, Roger Williams Medical Center, Toray Plastics, Rhodes Pharmaceutical, Grey Sail Brewing, Kenyon Industries, Eurofins Lancaster Biopharma, Eurofins Spectrum Analytical, Tedor Pharma and Bradford Soapworks have all committed to hiring students who successfully complete the course. The companies helped formulate the curriculum. Students are visiting the businesses, and representatives of the companies come to the education center to meet with students.

As of Thursday, Viveiros and his fellow classmates had constructed mock tests to detect diseases using chromatography, a lab technique for the separation of mixtures; used a process control computer simulator; and learned how to use a  spectrometer, a scientific instrument used to separate and measure spectral components.

The education center and the process technology course were both good choices, Viveiros said: “My wife says she hasn’t seen me this happy in years.”

Like Viveiros, Jennifer Brown said she wanted a career, not just a job, after her position reviewing mortgages at “a larger bank” was outsourced to another country in June. She had previously left the state’s once thriving jewelry industry, thinking banking was more stable, she said.

Brown, who lives in Warwick, learned of the process technology program through a listing on the state Department of Labor and Training website. She was intrigued, she said, by process technology’s application to a span of industries.

“I thought, wow, this one program could reach into all of these different directions? It’s not so finite that I’d be limited to going into the jewelry industry and designing again. I could go anywhere with this,” Brown said.

Private donors helped fund the construction of the labs and initial purchase of supplies. Grants were offered by Amgen, the Pfizer Foundation, the Westerly Lions Club, the Ocean Community Chamber Foundation, Royce Family Fund, The Washington Trust Foundation, Dime Bank Foundation, Scient Federal Credit Union, the Chelsea Groton Foundation and the Rhode Island Foundation.

The cost to build the two labs was $431,768, and the equipment cost $308,794. About 44 percent, or $327,100, came in grants and donations.

Amy Grzybowski, executive director of the education center, said that opening the labs was an important step.

“The teaching of science is critically important to America’s prosperity and the ability of our businesses to compete globally,” she said. “Providing courses in the sciences elevates the science, technology, engineering and math skills of our local workforce, and teaching labs are an absolute necessity for effective instruction. Because of the generosity of many, students at Westerly Education Center have modern, fully equipped chemistry and biology labs to learn and practice and prepare for their careers.”

Brown thanked the donors and the education center’s other supporters.

“To walk in here and see a facility so well stocked and to have the educational opportunity … this really is changing my future … I actually leave here at night and think to myself, how is this possible?” Brown said.

https://bit.ly/2QeK5kA

How do you get the message across that there are great employment opportunities in millwork, cabinets, furniture, and woodworking?

The best way is to show the workplace and its use of new technology. And to meet people who have had successful careers at companies that offer opportunities and advancement.

A recent event organized by industry, associations, and education achieved that and more.

The idea for the event was developed by Chris Hofmann, Woodworking Machinery Industry Association’s Education Committee chairman and U.S. Lamello product manager for Colonial Saw. WMIA organized the event with the help of Skills for Rhode Island’s Future, and Herrick & White, a Cumberland, Rhode Island, a manufacturer of architectural millwork, which hosted the meeting and provided tours as well.

Initially, Hofmann wanted to develop a live trade show-type event.

“When I was appointed chair of the WMIA Education Committee, I had a vision for developing something like a condensed trade show environment that would involve vocational high school students, educators, hopefully parents, industry vendors, and all the while also be centered around an engaging tour of a contemporary, dynamic shop,” he said.

“We found a great partner in Herrick & White to launch this concept for our inaugural event and I couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome. Feedback from the students and educators was terrific. By introducing the students to the shop environment, industry vendors, and post-secondary woodworking schools, we gave them a great cross-section of many available opportunities all in the span of about two hours per school.

Hofmann said there were five schools that participated, including 80 students. WMIA is in the planning stages for a similar event in Massachusetts for the spring of 2019. Once that second event is complete, he said they are going to work to create nationwide events multiple times per year.

Another participant, Skills for Rhode Island’s Future, is an organization that provides high school students with paid summer work-based internships. The program connects education with the workplace, allowing students to learn about a job they may want to pursue.

 

 

Changing perceptions

Ken Bertram, president of Herrick & White, said that he and Hofmann had earlier discussed the need to change the perception of the woodworking industry, which led to the open house concept at his architectural millwork company.

“We have been working with schools over the past several years, bringing in student interns for the purpose of bringing youth into the industry,” he said. “This was a great opportunity to capture many students at one event.”

Bertram said that people have the perception of the woodworking industry as a couple of guys in a garage covered in dust and missing some digits. This perception makes it more challenging to find employees.

Also, there is little emphasis on the trades in school.

“Primarily kids are guided towards college,” Bertram said. “The schools have had their vocational programs decimated by budget cuts so the kids that actually want to pursue a vocation don’t get the level of experience necessary or the building (of) enthusiasm for the trade. One of the goals of this event is to start to change the perception and make woodwork manufacturing an enticing opportunity for the future workforce.”

Bertram said that Herrick and White wanted to demonstrate that woodwork manufacturing reaches far beyond assembling a cabinet at a bench, and that there are career opportunities available, such as supervision, engineering, estimating, project management, accounting, sales and marketing.

“We wanted them to understand that if they came in with drive and a great attitude they can enter a trade right out of school and then develop their career in a direction they choose,” he said.

 

 

Partnering with industry

Larry Hoffer, WMIA president and CEO, said that the asscoaition’s member companies are also involved in this effort.

“Many WMIA-member companies pursue different avenues to solve the skills shortage, such as partnering with local VAs to find employees and developing internships with schools in their area,” Hoffer said. “On the whole, WMIA is part of WIRC, the Wood Industry Resource Collaborative, a multi-association collaboration that is working to bridge the skills gap by changing the perception of the industry among the next generation, their parents, and school counselors.

“(At this event) the students had the chance to better understand the diversity of the woodworking industry, the different machines and software used and the philosophies behind them, and they had the opportunity to talk with professionals currently working in the industry, to see what career paths might be available to them and how they might pursue them.”

WMIA is working on another open house in early 2019. “It is our goal to hold at least four of these events next year, and eventually create a prototype that our members can utilize in their own communities by partnering with vendors and schools in their area,” Hoffer said.

 

View from education

One of the schools participating in the event was the Woonsocket Area Career and Tech Center. Charlie Myers teaches Architectural Construction Technology, and has been an instructor there for 21 years.

“We do not have any woodworking programs anywhere with the Woonsocket Education system at any age or level,” he said. “We will work on a woodworking project on an individual basis if a student would like to build a bookcase or shelf but the program was not recruiting enough students to keep it active.

“The wood shop classes in the middle schools have also been eliminated when the teachers retired. The wood shop class in the high school has also been chopped. There is no longer any exposure to any trades until a student goes on a tour in the ninth grade. It is difficult to demonstrate all of the possible career paths in construction in a seven-minute time limit.”

Myers said he really enjoyed this event, and six students filled out an application to work there.

“This is a career that they had not considered before the tour,” he said. “I believe they finally saw a combination of skills and artistry in the projects being made there. They were also excited that two former graduates had worked their way from the entry level to an ownership level.

“I believe they saw a career where they can advance within a company and support themselves as adults. I think this is what they are looking for. A means to support themselves and their families as their skills improve….so will their income. I do not believe they have seen any examples of this in their employment so far and they were excited!”

 

Shop tour

Herrick & White president Ken Bertram showed a video to each group and described the history of the company, which started in 1977 and makes high-end specialized architectural millwork.

The company has many highly skilled and experienced longtime employees, but Bertram said that 10 percent of the current workforce.

“We are committed to growing our own workforce,” he said.

Company representatives emphasized to students that there were great opportunities for growth and promotion within the company, and offered their own experiences of holding many different positions as examples.

Gary Rousseau, executive vice president of sales and marketing, outlined his experience from Woonsocket Vocational to Herrick & White, dating back to 1979. He ran the shop, purchasing, and sales and marketing. “They gave me confidence,” he said. “And every day is a new adventure.”

Steve Brannigan is executive vice president of finance and chief financial officer, and also has had a long career at the company with many different positions. He said it is about much more than woodworking. “I have done every position in this company,” he said. He believes students today have the same opportunity he did, and Herrick and White is dedicated to growing their own talent.

In the shop, students saw the engineering department and saw how project management was handled from planning to installation.

They looked at the process beginning with rough lumber, cutting and machining, and assembly and fabrication.

In the shop were a Holzma panel saw, Anderson Exxact CNC router, Brandt edgebander and SawStop table saws. Of special interest to students was a Weeke Optimat BHP 008 CNC machining center, demonstrating the technology used in wood products manufacturing today.

 

Vendor contact

A group of industry organizations and companies was also present at the event, and visiting students could meet and ask questions of any of the representatives.

In addition to WMIA, the Woodwork Career Alliance was present, along with Colonial Saw, Stiles Machinery, KCD Software, Weinig-Holz-Her, SawStop, Cabinet Vision and Atlantic Machinery.

Herrick & White actually received one application from a student the day of the event, and several more students said they would apply and many took applications with them.

“I expect we’ll pick up a couple of student interns in the short term,” said Ken Bertram. “I expect our summer intern program will have several more applications, and more students will pursue woodworking as a career choice then before the event.”

“This mission to expose the youth to the modern day woodwork manufacturing environment is imperative for the future of the industry.  Great job from Skills for Rhode Island’s Future and WMIA for pulling it all together!”

 

https://bit.ly/2Dw3GWz