Just over two years ago St. Joseph High School student Abby Kuespert sat at a table just off the manufacturing floor at the Bridgman campus of Eagle Technologies and signed on as a new engineering apprentice. She and the team at Eagle were borrowing a page from the sports world where student athletes would hold signing ceremonies regarding collegiate career plans. 
On Friday afternoon, Abby was back on the shop floor at Eagle Technologies with some of her manufacturing colleagues to help celebrate an amazing array of 21 new apprenticeship program players all signing on with the team at Eagle to launch their manufacturing careers through the apprentice program at the Hanson Technology Center on the Benton Harbor Campus of Lake Michigan College.
Proud parents and many members of the Eagle staff watched the new group of future stars don their gray t-shirts and conduct the signing ceremonies in three different waves of young people who are entering the lucrative program that not only pays them to both study at LMC and work with teammates at Eagle Technoligies, but also covers their entire cost of tuition leaving them with zero student debt at the end of their training and with a full-time, good paying job with Eagle Technologies at both the Bridgman facility and their northern plant on Red Arrow at Shoreham.
Jay Bauer, Mechanical Manufacturing Manager at Eagle’s South Plant in Bridgman says, “We actually have 21, counting our engineering new signees today, so that boosts our program to 37 total which is really indicative of leadership’s investment in our future.”
Signees are joining Eagle’s expanded apprenticeship programs including:
- Electrical Technicians
- Machine Builders
- Machinists
- Mechatronics Technicians (Fluid Power Technicians)
Bauer says they also have an Engineering Apprenticeship Program for Mechanical and Controls Engineering, and reports they have 10 attending the pre-apprenticeship program at the Hanson Tech Center for five weeks beginning next Monday, June 21st. That’s a program that is primarily for high school graduates that have very little or no work experience in manufacturing.
Another ten apprentices are currently working at Eagle Technologies and will enter into the Department of Labor Apprenticeship program in the fall.
Bauer says, “It’s a very technical trade and our real strength is kind of growing our own. It’s very hard to walk in off the street and just start doing what we do. So this apprenticeship program is the lifeblood for us right now. It’s very exciting, even awesome, to be able to grow your own because you’re with them the whole way through the training process.”
By working with them through the entire training process, Bauer says it’s easier to help individuals over a particular hurdle along the way, saying, “The work that we do with them during the day allows us to identify their strengths and then where we can help them improve in other areas as well so that we can focus and get them those specific experiences to develop and be a true machine builder, ready to go out of the box when they’re done.”
Dr. Ken Flowers, Dean of Career and Workforce Education at Lake Michigan College was on hand to witness the signing ceremonies and is just as excited as the parents and the team at Eagle, saying, “Oh we’re extremely happy and it’s especially a beautiful thing to notice that there’s a lot of people in the trade now where these are their children coming into the business, following in their footsteps.” He says that runs totally counter to what he witnessed for many years, where, he says, “One of the issues was parents who were pushing their children away from the trade, and now you’ve got that kind of love of the game and they’re bringing their family into it.” By way of example he pointed to Jason Cleveland who now has two sons in the apprenticeship loop, adding, “So it’s really coming back to where people respecting and people feeling and getting the foundation of it, and really enjoying it. So, we’re so excited to see this.”
The road ahead is not an easy one, by any stretch, and several folks likened the beginning weeks of the training to military basic training, with even Dr. Flowers noting, “It is very intense, but it’s very intense largely because you’re going to school and you’re working at the same time. So you’re trying to figure out how to make the best of that along with — keep in mind most of these young people just got out of high school, too — so, they’ve got to figure out how to work and play and go to school all in the same mix plus try to learn and progress, because at Eagle, they want you to be in for five years to be able to build the things that you’re seeing around you.”
While Flowers admits it’s a lot of hard work ahead for the apprentice team, he notes, “The beauty of it is too, it’s a great support system. We have a 90-percent retention rate. So the people that start in this stay in this, just because of the great support system. Then on top of that, the best part that any parent wants to hear is when you’re all done, not only are you going to school and working? You’re being paid for that whole time that you’re going to school and working and your tuition is being covered. So you’re coming out of it all as a full-fledged employee making very good wages and zero student debt.”
To emphasize that point, Flowers says, “Walk the parking lot, you see these nice vehicles out here? They start really investing in those kinds of things and not having that student debt, that’s a really big deal. The beauty of it is Eagle is such a great company, they also will say, ‘hey, do you want to get an associate’s degree? We will help you with your additional schooling.’ So it doesn’t just end at the apprenticeship. They really want to grow their own here.”
These are the students identified by Eagle as being involved in the signing on Friday:
- Cody Harrington
- David Kennedy
- Spencer Fuller
- Dustin Wilson
- Keith Adams
- Joshua Newport
- Dustin Huff
- Cliff Riedel
- Austin Brookins
- Marshall Arndt
- Alec Cleveland
- Michael Melvoin
- Jacob Hutchins
- Wade Bailey
- Derek Lausch
- Jake Hemphill
- Luke Hedstrom
- Gideon Maxim
The excitement of “Signing Day” at Eagle Technologies was followed by plant tours for students and their parents, and as they ventured out to see the amazing work underway at the high-tech manufacturing plant on Red Arrow Highway, I said to Eagle’s Jay Bauer, “I’m guessing that even though you’ve got a huge number here today, it’s still nowhere near enough. Right?” Bauer responded, “That’s right. And that’s part of why we have such a huge number today. We need help. We need qualified help, and this is a big step in that direction.”
