The Crossing, in conjunction with Catapult, Conexus and NHK, unveiled its new manufacturing skills lab opening with a ribbon cutting ceremony Wednesday at its Frankfort campus.
“This is a big day for the Crossing planting for ongoing career tech engineering,” said Clinton County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Shan Sheridan. “We’re doing it right here at the Crossing with the help of Catapult, Conexus, NHK Seating and all of our other partners.”
The event saw state and local officials attend along with several members of the community who have had an integral part of the Crossing since its inception.
“The Manufacturing Skills Lab will provide the hands-on training necessary to prepare students for placement in our on-site program at NHK,” said Crossing Manufacturing Career Pathway Instructor Alan Schoonveld. “Our standards work on a level system that is designed to prepare them for the experiences they will have at NHK. The Lab is considered the first step in preparing them for the manufacturing work environment. Our goal is to provide NHK as well as other manufacturers in the community with students who are pre-trained in safety, employability skills and manufacturing experience.”
Crossing Regional Coordinator Cole Warford said they realized the pre-training process really wasn’t there.
“We reversed engineered it,” said Warford. “We developed this process for students to understand the why, the how and the what to give the skills they need.”
Warford added they heard about the Catapult from Conexus. They met and found out they had a laboratory and career academy set up in Lafayette and thought it would be a good opportunity to bring it to Clinton County.