Paulson Training Programs partners with Northwest-Shoals Community College

NW-SCC is partnering with local industry to offer training at the school to supply injection molders in the area with a steady, reliable source of expert trained employees, using Paulson's library of plastics processing courses as the cornerstone of this project.

Paulson was chosen as the best training solution for this initiative after a rigorous competitive bidding process with other training companies. Paulson's extensive library of plastics processing training, decades of experience in the industry and thousands of installed programs throughout the U.S. and worldwide were cited as some of the reasons that NW-SCC chose Paulson as their preferred vendor.

"We are extremely honored to have been selected by Northwest-Shoals Community College to supply much needed training in the fast-growing injection molding industry in the ears," said Craig Paulson, president of Paulson Training Programs. "Paulson is going all out to make sure this training initiative is a success."

Given the skilled labor shortage in the plastics industry, several international companies wanted assurance that if they were to locate their new injection molding manufacturing plants in the area, they would have the trained personnel they need to operate at the highest level demanded by their customers.

Paulson told PlasticsToday that demand is increasing among colleges for these types of training programs. "Our biggest customer base has typically been private industry, but we're definitely seeing an increase in interest from the colleges as well," he said. "There's no one thing driving this but it's a combination of the skilled labor shortage and large companies wanting to site plants in regions where they can be assured of an adequate supply of trained employees."

Humphrey Lee, president of NW-SCC said, "We are very excited to be able to play such a key role for our injection molding manufacturers in the region. Being able to provide this world-class training to our industry partners is a win-win situation for all involved."

Greg Springer, also from NW-SCC has been the school's point man for implementing the training programs. Paulson Training has been working closely with Springer to get the training launched.  Springer has also attended seminars given by the Paulson Plastics Academy as part of the initial training and to enable him to make sure implementation of the training runs smoothly. The school is looking to graduate approximately 400 students annually from the program to fill demand for injection molding positions in the region.

Four manufacturing companies are already on board with the program and are helping to drive it: Tasus, a plastic injection molder for the automotive industry; North American Lighting, a lighting supplier and member of the Japan-based Koito family of companies serving all major automotive OEMs; Tri-Cities Manufacturing, a diversified contract manufacturer with wide-ranging injection molding capabilities; and CVC Group, a diversified holding company. "We've gotten positive feedback that other companies will be getting on board as well," said Paulson.

NW-SCC, located in Muscle Shoals, AL, is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award the Associate in Arts, Associate in Science, Associate in Applied Science and Associate in Occupational Technology degrees as well as certificates in specific occupational areas.

Paulson said that Paulson Training has completed several of these programs this year, and are preparing for implementing additional programs. "We're putting together a standard template for these college programs that we can implement at colleges that either already have plastic programs or those located in plastics-intensive regions that need a program to meet the needs of employers," he stated.