Manufacturers take advantage of fed supported apprentice programs

February 18, 2012
By Peter Bacque | Richmond Times-Dispatch

More manufacturers should take advantage of apprenticeship programs for workers with advanced skills like the one Alstom Power runs in Chesterfield County, U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis said.

Solis visited the Alstom factory in Chesterfield County on Friday.

"We hear time and time again from major manufacturers that they can't find qualified people with these kinds of technical skills," Solis said in an interview. "We're helping to fund these kinds of efforts through our community college programs."

Pierre L. Gauthier, president of Alstom Inc.'s U.S. operations, said the company is trying to fill hundreds of jobs in advanced manufacturing across the country.

"We need educated people," he said. "We need skills that are always getting more and more advanced."

At its 180,000-square-foot Willis Road plant, Alstom repairs and retrofits steam and gas power turbines, repairs generators and makes and reconditions power turbine blades.

France-based Alstom employs more than 450 employees in the Richmond area, including more than 150 at the Willis Road facility.

The global engineering manufacturing company, which generated $27.5 billion in sales last fiscal year, trains machinists, welders, turbine blade specialist and other skilled workers in its apprentice program.

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Copyright Richmond Times-Dispatch. Used by permission.

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