RUMFORD – A new machine tool technology class begins in January for displaced and other workers who are looking for a new skill.

This is the fifth precision metal trades course to be offered under the cooperative umbrella of the River Valley Technology Center, Central Maine Community College and Region 9 School of Applied Technology.

Once the River Valley Technology Center is up and running, more of the course work will be offered in Rumford.

But for now the certificate course, which can be completed by the end of August, is scheduled to be offered at Region 9 in Mexico, where class work in English, computer applications and blueprint reading, among others, will be held on Wednesdays and Fridays.

The hands-on technical class work, such as milling and lathe work, is scheduled at the community college in Auburn on Tuesdays and Fridays. Both the Region 9 and community college schedules begin Jan. 12 and run through the end of May. After that, students will take all class work at the community college through August. The successful completion enables students to continue on at CMCC for a second year that can result in an associate’s degree.

“This is for displaced workers and others who qualify,” said Diane Dostie, dean of Corporate and Community Services at CMCC. For those people, there is no charge for the training.

She, along with members of the River Valley Technology Center board, have been working to get unemployed workers into the program for several years. Many of the students who have successfully completed the certificate or associate’s program have gone on to land good-paying jobs in the metal trades industry.

Also crucial to the success of the program are the state CareerCenters located in Rumford, Norway and Wilton that have helped displaced workers through the process of applying for training programs and learning new skills.

Those interested in signing up for the program should contact the Rumford CareerCenter at 364-3738 or the Norway CareerCenter at 743-7763. The application deadline is Dec. 15.

“This is a good opportunity to get additional training for a marketable skill,” said Dostie.

The machine tool/metal trades program is made possible through federal grants designed to offer high tech training to dislocated workers.

Lisa Martin, director of the Maine Metal Products Association, has said that many metal trades jobs in the state have gone unfilled because of the lack of skilled workers. This program prepares workers for those jobs.

Dostie said the machine tool educational opportunity has two purposes: to train people in the Northern Oxford area for new jobs, and to bring some of those students who successfully complete the program into the River Valley Technology Center as new businesses start up there.

eadams@sunjournal.com

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