Metalworking apprentices from across Pittsburgh region compete as demand for jobs remains strong

The sound of milling machines filled the air Friday morning at Westmoreland County Community College’s Advanced Technology Center in East Huntingdon, as eight apprentices competed for the title of Best Metalworking Apprentice in the Pittsburgh chapter of the National Tooling and Milling Association.

It was music to the ears of Tim Harmon, who heads trainee development at Kiski Precision Industries in Allegheny Township. For Harmon, the metal shavings hitting the ground represent the future of manufacturing in Southwestern Pennsylvania.

“Our students attend four years of classes through the NTMA (National Tooling and Milling Association),” Harmon said. “They undergo 475 hours of training, and that’s a huge benefit companies like ours rely on.”

While Kiski Precision does have an in-house training program, they don’t have the manpower or time to devote to nearly 500 hours of education. The association holds classes at four locations across Southwestern Pennsylvania, and its program and event coordinator Liz Blashock said they have seen their numbers going up.

“Last year, we had 35 students taking classes for the first time. This year, that number doubled to 70, and we haven’t seen that before,” Blashock said.

Harmon has seen a similar bump.

“The numbers of students learning skilled trades are up at the local vocational schools when we look,” he said.

At the Nat’l Tooling & Machining Assoc competition in Mt Pleasant this morning. pic.twitter.com/A6biMZtxk9

— Patrick Varine - Tribune-Review (@VarineTrib) February 17, 2023

One of those students was competitor Ethan Birth, an NTMA apprentice working at Global/SFC Valve in Somerset Township. Birth was hoping to become an Air Force pilot, but scoliosis issues with his back prevented him from enlisting.

“I wanted to design planes, but college is expensive,” he said. “I went to Somerset Career & Technology Center and got 12 (National Institute for Metalworking Skill) certifications, the same ones you’d get going to college for engineering. I’d already been working at a machine shop since I was 16, and then I moved to the shop where I am now — and I have no debt.”

His employers at Global/SFC Valve offered to send Birth to the weekly NTMA classes.

“I figured I might as well build my resume if they’re going to pay me to do it,” he said.

Birth and his fellow competitors received blueprints for the same two pieces, one created on a milling machine and the other on a lathe.

“These represent basic milling- and turning-machine parts,” said Jim McDowell, quality assurance manager at Penn State Tool & Die in East Huntingdon, who was watching as his apprentice, Jacob Koelsch, worked on the milling portion of the competition. “It shows that they’ve been trained to a specific level. There are features of the parts that require different tools and methods for using a machine.”

One of the interesting aspects, McDowell said, is despite having the exact same blueprints, no two apprentices are likely to be going about it the same way.

“Everyone’s doing it a slightly different way,” he said. “It’s a matter of how you were taught, how you learn and how you approach each task.”

NTMA has 150 apprentices currently taking classes, and association officials want to boost those numbers in part by introducing students to the skilled trades at a younger age.

One way is through the annual BotsIQ competition, which provides hands-on learning experiences to introduce students to manufacturing careers. Last year, students from 41 regional schools tested their bots’ strength as they dueled their 15-pound bots gladiator-style in an industrial ring. This weekend’s bracket-style competition was 2022’s final contest after three preliminaries in March.

It’s certainly possible that some of those students are among the apprentices currently undergoing training through NTMA’s Pittsburgh chapter.

For McDowell, NTMA training classes can’t grow fast enough.

“We try to get up to four apprentices on board at the company each year,” he said. “This year, we’ve got two. There’s still a significant lack of manpower in the manufacturing industry.”

The winners in the competition will be announced and recognized at a June banquet in North Huntingdon.