Northwest Louisiana Technical Community College (NLTCC) held their 2nd annual Nuts, Bolts & Thingamajigs Manufacturing Camp from June 12 through June 15 at the Minden campus. Fourteen young men between the ages of 11 and 14 participated in the program, each experiencing and learning about a wide variety of manufacturing skills including welding, advanced manufacturing, industrial maintenance, electrical, and CDL, as well as other programs offered by NLTCC.
These junior students were able to use the same state-of-the-art equipment that the adult students of NLTCC use to complete their projects.
“We want to excite them about the potential of careers in the technical fields,” said Robert McGuire, director of dual enrollment.
And there is a great need locally and across the nation for people with manufacturing skills.
“There’s 1,000 openings from Shreveport to West Monroe to Magnolia to Alexandria,” said advanced manufacturing technology instructor Jerry Watkins. “There’s easily 1,000 positions. And that’s just this shop — machinists. Then we’ve got electrical, instrumentation, welding. It’s the same thing with all those fields. I’ve got 100% placement in here. My guys go to work. Lockheed Martin was in here last week. They’re going to hire these guys at 30 bucks an hour right out of the program, and then bring them through their own program as a kind of apprenticeship. But they want them to have the foundation.”
The young men who participated in the program obviously had a great time and really loved learning all the new skills and using the professional equipment. Some came in thinking they already knew what they wanted to do in life, only to discover new interests that excited them even more. A few who had taken industrial computer controls with instructor Prothro went home and ordered components so they could keep working in this area. This camp certainly encouraged them to expand their horizons, and the instructors all seemed delighted to show them a wider world.
While the camp may be over for the youngsters, that wider world is still available to anyone who would like to apply for one of the many programs offered by NLTCC.
