A partnership between St. Louis Community College’s Workforce Solutions Group and Boeing St. Louis is celebrating a major milestone. The partnership has resulted in 1,214 program participants being hired by Boeing.
The partnership grew from an effort in 2007 to support new program contracts and program growth, and address a talent shortage due to retirements. Boeing St. Louis needed to create a sustainable pipeline for future hiring. The Boeing St. Louis Pre-Employment Training program has focused on training candidates to work as aircraft assembly mechanics.
As part of this program, STLCC instructional designers teamed up with Boeing to develop two pathways: Sheet Metal Assembler, Riveter (SMAR) and Composites Technology.
SMAR training requires 200 contact hours; composites technology, 120 hours. Both also require eight hours of teambuilding and four hours of interview skills. STLCC staff also assist students with updating and revising their resumes in preparation for the Boeing application process.
Upon successful completion of the program, graduates are guaranteed an interview with Boeing; however, jobs are not guaranteed. Additionally, students can receive nine credit hours for the SMAR course. Those who have a mathematics class credit on their transcripts may apply for a certificate of specialization in STLCC’s Skilled Trades Industrial Occupations Technology program. Credit for the composites technology program also can be pursued.
This is Boeing’s only pre-employment program of its kind in the country.
“Through our collaboration with St. Louis Community College, the Pre-Employment Training program has helped more than 1,000 workers in the St. Louis region develop important skills to create viable career pathways at Boeing and in the manufacturing industry,” said Paisley Matthews, air dominance vice president of manufacturing and safety at Boeing St. Louis.
“Boeing is proud of the strong, long-lasting, positive impact this program and partnership have in the community where our employees live and work. Our goal is to launch 1,000 more careers in the years to come.”
Jeff L. Pittman, Ph.D., STLCC chancellor, echoed the same sentiments. “Boeing’s participation and partnership is key to the success of this program, which epitomizes the strong collaboration between the business sector and both the workforce and credit side of the college,” he said.
“These types of partnerships are the future for community colleges and STLCC is expanding similar relationships with companies in several other sectors, including health care, IT, financial services, hospitality management and biotechnology.”
According to Becky Epps, manager of STLCC’s Center for Workforce Innovation, a unique benefit of the program because it is led by instructors who bring years of real-world experience to the classroom.
“When developing this program, we knew it was imperative to have high-quality instructors, so we sought to hire Boeing retirees to serve on our staff,” she said. “Their knowledge of the very specialized aerospace manufacturing industry, combined with their enthusiasm for teaching, is invaluable.”
All costs for the program are covered by Boeing, which enables students to complete it with no out-of-pocket expenses. Moreover, students receiving unemployment are eligible to continue receiving benefits while in training since the program is approved by Missouri’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
To cast a wider net of prospects and make the program inclusive to women and high school students, Boeing and STLCC also implemented the Women in Aerospace Manufacturing program and the Second Semester High School Senior program. This program allows high school students to simultaneously attend the training program and high school with the potential of a job offer after graduation.
St. Louis Community College recently joined the Bellwether College Consortium after entering the Boeing/STLCC Pre-Employment Training program in Bellwether’s competition. The entry earned finalist status in the Workforce Development Award category. This category recognizes public and/or private strategic alliances and partnerships that promote community and economic development.
The Bellwether College Consortium is comprised of innovative, award-winning community colleges whose program entries in the Bellwether Award competition address critical issues facing community colleges in three areas: workforce development, instructional programs and services and planning governance and finance. Institutions gain entry to the consortium by scoring in the top 10 in one or more of the three Bellwether Award categories. Annually, 30 community colleges are deemed finalists from a large group of applicants in the United States and its territories.
Learn more at stlcc.edu.
St. Louis Community College has served more than 1.3 million students since 1962. More than 50% of households in the area are represented by our former and current students. STLCC firmly believes that education has the power to lift us up – as individuals, as communities and as a city.
