By LINDA HARRIS
The State Journal
MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — Procter & Gamble is partnering with Blue Ridge Community & Technical College to ensure the workers at its new, $500,000 plant under construction in Berkeley County have the skillsets they’ll need to handle whatever the job throws at them.
BRCTC President Peter Checkovich sums the relationship up in one word: Innovative.
“The public-private partnership along with the tremendous support from our state government is a great example of what can be accomplished when all parties team together to bring positive economic development to a region,” Checkovich said.
P&G’s product line boasts a couple dozen billion dollar brands and several of its biggest and best sellers — including Pantene, Aussie, Head & Shoulders, Vidall Sassoon and Herbal Essence (shampoos), Olay and Old Spice (body washes), as well as Bounce Fabric sheets and Swiffer product lines — will be rolling off production lines at the new Tabler Station plant. When fully operational, the plant will employ as many as 700 people.
“There were two areas P&G was looking for, one of which — mechatronics — we were already working on,” Checkovich said. “When they were making the decision to relocate, a few members of their group took a tour of the college and saw what they were looking for in training was right here at the college, but we needed to develop it more.”
Mechatronics combines mechanical engineering, computing and electronics skillsets to develop cutting-edge manufacturing technologies, combining classroom knowledge with hands-on training.
Grant money from P&G and the state allowed Blue Ridge Technical to buy more equipment, hire staff and design a curriculum that meets the company’s training needs.
P&G has said the school is “right on track” for having its first 300 workers ready when the plant opens.
Ann Shipway, vice president of workforce and engineering technologies, said it “wasn’t terribly difficult” to put together. P&G’s team “conducted a site visit, walked through our labs and met all our faculty and instructional staff,” Shipway said.
“That’s our business, — it’s what we do,” she added.
Shipway said there’s only one way to get a job at a P&G plant — by applying online, through the company’s website. Once they make the cut, P&G routes the new hires through Blue Ridge as part of their “on-boarding” process.
Checkovich said P&G is also utilizing the school’s technology center, a 60,000 square foot space Blue Ridge leases in the Berkeley business park. It’s located near the P&G property.
“They’re free to utilize our facility. We’re there to help them in any way possible,” he said. “We did it with Macy’s, as well.”
Checkovich sees it as an enduring partnership.
“We’d had a good deal of experience, albeit smaller companies, with workforce training,” he said. “We’ve been developing (our expertise) in that area for at least 15 years now.”
The idea, he said, is to “grow with P&G and support them, short-term to get the plant open. Construction started in 2016, and they (should be) at full capacity in 2019. But they know they’re going to have turnover. There’s going to be attrition so there will be jobs to fill, so we figure we’ll be training 70 or 80 people a year just to (fill those holes).”
Shipway points out as technologies evolve, P&G’s work force will have to adapt, “and we’ll be right there for them.”
She said they’re already recruiting the next generation of workers.
“We’ve got a high school program for 11th and 12th graders, the students are bused in and they work in the same building where P&G is building their company,” she said.
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