Veterans
There is a shortage of talented machine operators in the US but there is an available pool of candidates returning from active military duty. Their training and discipline has prepared them for learning the combined manual and mental skills required to operate todays sophisticated production machinery. Their numbers are expected to swell over the next few years just as the need for machine operators is expected to increase.
Why Now
The impetus for our School comes in two parts. Primarily, those returning military men and women, especially those wounded to the point were they require some rehabilitation, have earned our support and there are many functions within the manufacturing industry that require skill rather than physical strength. Secondly, it has been predicted that manufacturing jobs will be coming back to the United States and, in spite of our country’s many unemployed, few will be qualified to run the machinery necessary to support the returning work.
The School
The school will be a not-for-profit training facility teaching returning military personnel how to operate production machinery. This will include any required training in mathematics and tolerances to allow them to learn how to program and manage the machines. Our students will not be children looking for a possible career but rather men and women who have experienced life and are ready to learn another sophisticated skill. Because of their personal situations, we believe it will be appropriate to pay them so they can afford to take the year of training required to make them proficient.
Services
We will provide training in machine operations, engineering drawings and tolerances, numerical control programming, and the related technical preparation. Participants will learn to make parts from drawing to completion.
Candidates
We will seek men and women who have served in the military especially but not limited to those who have suffered some kind a disability as a result. They will be screened for aptitude and, more importantly, attitude. Included in our objectives is the development of strategic partnerships with local manufacturers.
Competition
Not wanting to duplicate an ongoing activity, we have searched the local area for similar programs and find no other organization focusing on this kind of training. Ameren is targeting veterans with applicable experience for their Center for Energy Work Force Development and Goodwill is helping veterans with special readjustment problems. We will be preparing our candidates for manufacturing roles. We will; however, coordinate with any group we can find that is interested in helping Veterans get reestablished. In addition, we will work with other organizations such as the Veterans Administration.
Support
The Tazewell County Veterans Assistance Commission and the Peoria Branch of the Illinois Veterans Administration has agreed to help us find candidates.
Operations
We plan to install machines in local vacant space with some classroom space and start with perhaps ten candidates to prove the concept.
Volunteers
- Prasad Parupalli – Component Manager at Caterpillar, Inc. where he has been employed for over twenty years. He is actively involved in Easter Seals, The Blind Center, and Lake View Museum. He has degrees in electrical engineering, computer science, and business administration
- Tony Trad – Caterpillar Retiree with over 35 years in parts development, quality improvement, training, and production troubleshooting. He has concentrated on machine training for the last four years and teaches at Illinois Central College.
- Ronald Rainson, PE – President of Ra Global Ltd, he has been Chairman & CEO of several companies; most recently he was CEO & Chairman of Axis, Inc., a manufacturing design consulting firm. Please see Rainson Resume for more detail. He was Chairman of the Central Illinois Red Cross and has worked on United Way Campaigns. He has degrees in electrical engineering and industrial management and is a Registered Professional Engineer in Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and Vermont.
