Two El Paso manufacturing businesses receive training grants

2 December, 2016

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Two El Paso, Texas, manufacturing business received more than half a million dollars in skills development grants from the Texas Workforce Commission in recent days during an event at El Paso Community College.

According to a press release, Commission Chairman Andres Alcantar presented checks of US$ 216,523 to injection molder Plastic Molding Technology Inc. (PMT) and US$ 335,925 to health care industry supplier Becton, Dickinson and Company.

Eighty-one of Plastic Molding Technology’s 98 full-time employees are enrolled in the new training with tailored curricula and industry-specific college-faculty-taught courses ranging from injection molding and lean manufacturing to supervisory techniques and software skills. The training began August 31 and will extend through August 2017.

“Manufacturing as a whole has struggled in recent years with a prevalent skills gap, especially in segments that require highly skilled labor like the plastics industry,” PMT CEO Charles A. Sholtis said in a statement. “PMT is investing in the future and our people with the receipt of this grant.”

PMT manufactures precision-engineered plastic components with an annual volume of 150 million parts and is positioned to serve maquiladora plants in Mexico. The company recently added a 500-ton molding machine, 5-ton crane system, and a 3-D printing area to its facility.

During the event, college President William Serrata and El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser underscored the importance of helping companies such as PMT in developing their workforces to boost American manufacturing competitiveness.

Mary Sholtis, PMT training and development coordinator, worked closely with college staff to develop a curriculum to specifically address PMT’s training needs. PMT pays employees for time spent in the classroom and will provide incremental pay increases for those who complete the program. In addition, an employee can earn continuing education credits.

The Becton, Dickinson and Company medical technology facility in El Paso, which makes infusion pumps and automated dispensing systems, employs 700 and was part of the firm’s March 2015 acquisition of CareFusion Corp. for US$ 12.54 billion. The company has invested more than US$ 30 million in its El Paso operations and is based in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey.

In September 2015, the workforce commission announced the availability of US$ 48.5 million in job-training funding. Since the program’s inception in 1996, the commission says the grants have created or upgraded more than 329,000 jobs and have assisted more than 4,000 employers.

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