Testimonials

Smith & Wesson, Springfield, MA - Bill Lachenmeyer, Vice President of Human Resources - "At Smith & Wesson we have long supported veterans through a number of programs and sponsorships, so we were especially pleased to participate in the M.O.S.T.® program, which is taking specific action to get veterans integrated into the workforce. MassMEP streamlined the process, from candidate selection to administering the program. The true sign of success occurred today, as these trainees graduated and we immediately offered them full time manufacturing jobs."

Secretary of Veterans Services, Coleman Nee - "We are proud to join with MassMEP and Smith & Wesson to put Massachusetts' veterans back to work. Veterans bring extensive skills to the workforce and pairing that with comprehensive training programs like this benefits both the veteran and the employer. This is a great step toward strengthening our veterans and our communities."

BRS Aerospace, Pompano Beach, FL – Larry Williams, CEO - "With the opening of our new facility, we are excited to bring additional jobs to Broward County, and proud to be working with the Florida MEP to provide employment to those who have bravely served our country. We look forward to working with the Florida MEP [through M.O.S.T.® training] to bring additional veterans into our company and decrease the unemployment rate for veterans in our state."

A. Southern Manufacturing Technologies, Inc., Tampa, FL - Shannon Sweatman, HR Manager - "Our experience with the Time Wise M.O.S.T.® program has been better than expected. Two of our lead employees told me recently that we couldn’t have done a better job picking the people that we got. They have a great attitude and a true want to learn. As one of our trainers recently said, this person from the M.O.S.T.® program doesn’t have any experience and will listen to what you are trying to teach him and does what you just said; he is much better to work with than a recent new hire that had 5 years of experience, but did not want to pay attention when I was trying to train him. One lead person suggested that maybe we should hire some more people that don’t have previous experience because of this. I reminded him that the M.O.S.T.® program had to thoroughly screen many people just to get to the few that we now have; it would be difficult to hire for this attitude on our own….the two weeks of training taught the students more than I thought they could cover in two weeks."

L. P Lighting, Olive Branch, MS - Jeff Benton, Senior Vice President – "This is a wonderful opportunity [M.O.S.T.® training] that reinforces our commitment to develop our employees. When an organization offers to train your employees, it’s an opportunity that is hard to refuse, especially when we depend on a highly-trained workforce. It enables us to reduce the amount of time it takes for an employee to become productive."

PGT Industries, N. Venice, FL – Alicia Adams, Senior HR Manager - "Because the training we conducted last month was successful for PGT in identifying and training suitable candidates, we set up a second training session. The M.O.S.T.® program has allowed us to provide the trainees hands on experience and prepare them for what they will encounter on the manufacturing floor."

Economic Development Council of Collier County, FL – Tammie Nemecek, President/CEO - "With unemployment rates still at record highs, the job market is saturated with people looking for work. This has made it increasingly difficult for jobseekers to stand out. Florida MEP’s innovative M.O.S.T.® program, which we helped bring to Collier, is one way to assist our residents in gaining the extra training and knowledge needed to find full-time employment. At the same time, this program helps encourage growth and expansion by making the hiring and training process a whole lot easier for the participating companies."

Governor Haley Barbour, Mississippi – "D-STAMP [M.O.S.T.®] is the type of innovative approach we need to quickly prepare workers in the Mississippi Delta for the highly technical jobs our state is attracting. I thank all our partners for bringing D-STAMP [M.O.S.T.®] to Mississippi companies, and I appreciate the commitment of GE Aviation to Mississippi."

Grenada Economic Development District, MS – Pablo Diaz, Executive Director – "In these challenging economic times, we salute the governor’s office’s relentless efforts for economic development and their foresight in funding a program [M.O.S.T.®] that makes an immediate, positive difference for both employers and employees."

Cleveland-Bolivar County Chamber of Commerce, MS – Judson Thigpen, Executive Director – "This is a critical time for Mississippi Delta workers. It’s imperative that we do everything we can to help them find employment. We’re very pleased that we can utilize this special training [M.O.S.T.®] here."

Faurecia Automotive Seating, Cleveland, MS – Bob Poehler, Plant Manager – "Partnering with D-STAMP [M.O.S.T.®] helps us to train qualified employees so that they can begin work with Faurecia with a stronger skill set and an understanding of the processes that are important to our company and our customers."

Kim Draga, HR Manager – "At first I didn’t know what to expect but the program [M.O.S.T.®] has delivered far and beyond any of my expectations."

GE Aviation, Batesville, MS – Terry Collins, HR Leader – "Participation in the M.O.S.T.® program has allowed our new employees get up to speed and become productive faster than they might have otherwise."

Envirobrite, Sanford, FL – Chuck Hansbrough, Sales and Marketing Manager – "Envirobrite is pleased to take a forward-looking approach to our hiring. Through the M.O.S.T.® program, we’re not simply looking for people to hire, we’re actually beginning the training process while we’re still in the hiring phase."

Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission, FL – Tracy Turk, Senior Director of Business Development – "In speaking with many manufacturers over the years, I would often hear them say that it was difficult to find skilled employees to fulfill their needs….This program [M.O.S.T.®] fills a long overdue need."

Workforce Alliance, Inc. of Palm Beach County, FL - Kathryn Schmidt, President and CEO - "We are pleased to support this latest training [M.O.S.T.®] session in Palm Beach County. Through this partnership, we are able to help locally-based businesses by lowering the cost of hiring new employees, and bring critical job training services directly to the people in our area who need them."

Piper Aircraft, Vero Beach, FL – Steve Johnston, Vice President for Human Resources - "It’s [M.O.S.T.® training] working phenomenally well. The program is giving the people a core set of manufacturing principles, and it’s getting them to think competitively. We give it a very high grade. This course gave us the cross-training to move from one thing to another at Piper. The nice thing is it was really geared to what Piper does."

Control Logistics, Inc., Lake Worth, FL – Andres Budo, President – "Even though people are looking for jobs in Palm Beach County, it is hard to find skilled and qualified workers. We are thrilled to work with M.O.S.T.® because it provides an easy way for us to locate potential employees."

Advance Machine & Tool, Inc., Fort Pierce, FL – Donald Kuklinski, CNC Machine Operator - "When I was enrolled in this [M.O.S.T.®] program, my wife and I were on the verge of losing everything that we had worked hard for. We were behind on our mortgage and we were slipping further into debt. It is disheartening to watch everything you worked for falling through your finger tips. The M.O.S.T.® program provided me with the opportunity to be able to learn a new skill and be able to provide for my family. In turn, I began working with bill collectors in order to save what my wife and I worked so hard to achieve. My wife and I are both grateful and indebted to the training program and to the staff for the help and caring that this program offered. If it wasn’t for the help of this program, I don’t know where my wife and I would be right now."

Gary Meier, Director of Operations – "I have a lot of young people here now that are the future of manufacturing and they’re the ones that you know put a warm spot in your heart. They really do because I remember them when they first came in and were working and to watch them progress over the years has been a real joy."

Krieger Machine Company, Inc., Stuart, FL - John Goings, General Manager – "The two-week intensive training by M.O.S.T.® provides new hires with sufficient initial skills that enables them to immediately begin contributing to the company’s overall performance. Not only does M.O.S.T.® provide job specific skills, but also provides good employee skills. What M.O.ST.® provides in two weeks would normally take months of on-the-job training and with much less formality. We highly recommend M.O.S.T.® to any company that needs highly motivated and semi-skilled employees that otherwise would not [be] available."

Aaron J. Krieger, Owner/President – "Our concern here is how we take it to the next level, because it works. The M.O.S.T. program works, absolutely. The amount of information they can put into these people in a short amount of time, in a matter of weeks is amazing."

L. S. Starrett, Athol, MA - Joel Shaughnessy, Director of Personnel – "The M.O.S.T.® program has become part of our recruitment process for CNC operators and performs a valuable human resource function for us. The Franklin Hampshire Career Center publicizes our employment opportunities and we interview qualified applicants at the Career Center. Once we’ve selected applicants for training, the M.O.S.T.® mobile unit delivers the training at our facility. The end result is that the recruits walk directly from the mobile unit onto our shop floor and can hit the ground running because the training has been customized to fit our needs."

Massachusetts State Senator Stephen Brewer – "I know from experience that this is a very important profession [machinist]. We need more machinists who posses these skills and a program [M.O.S.T.®] like this can go a long way into ensuring that happens."

Maine Machine Products Co., South Paris, ME – Thomas Galley, COO - "The six individuals hired out of the M.O.S.T.® training are contributing associates after just a few weeks of on-the-job training. The M.O.S.T.® program was a great success, and pleasantly surprised even the experienced machinists on the shop floor who were skeptical at the beginning of the program."

Mid-State Machine Products, Winslow, ME – Dana Berry, HR Manager - "We think it [M.O.S.T.®] give us another avenue to acquire people with some basic abilities. I think our industry in the state of Maine is facing a substantial shortfall of qualified people. We continually look for qualified machinists. The M.O.S.T.® program may be one means to meet one of our needs."

General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products, Saco, ME – Chuck Bates, Staff Development Manager – "We were very satisfied with the quality of the students that completed the M.O.S.T.® training program."

Tidland, Eastern Division, Keene, NH – Victor Kissell, Manager - "When we added to the facility two years ago we were looking for 25 people. Tidland was on the fence to move out of the area, to locate where there is more skilled labor available. Through our interviewing process we qualified them for the program [M.O.S.T.®], so in essence, we’d be willing to hire them after they finish the program and it gave them the basic skills to do our entry level positions as well as starting training in CNC operations. We were able to bring in 12 people and start training in all of the areas all at once."

Keene Employment Security, Keene, NH – Joel Slutsky, Manager – "Skilled computer numerically-controlled (CNC) machine operators are in high demand at manufacturing facilities in New Hampshire. This program [M.O.S.T.®] has been so successful because the training facility comes to the company and the region that needs these workers most, eliminating the need for travel, which is a major benefit for the potential workers and the companies involved."

Lake Machine, Claremont, NH – Steve Dalassio, General Manager – "There is an industry-wide shortage of the skilled workers we need to keep our plants running smoothly. M.O.S.T.® is providing us with the workers we need, and at the same time, helping our neighbors who are out-of-work get back on their feet. It’s a win-win situation."

Graphicast, Jaffrey, NH – Val Zanchuk, President – "Graphicast is proud to be part of the M.O.S.T.® program."

AccuRounds, Inc., Avon, MA – Mike Tamasi, President – "Unfortunately there is a bad rap going on in this country about manufacturing leaving and going overseas. We have more than tripled the size of our business in the past six years and expect to grown even during these difficult economic times. The M.O.S.T.® program allows people to get some school training on the bus, but when you’re adjacent to the company they can get real-time training to go along with it and it’s really a kind of packed training program in a couple of weeks that provides that pre-qualified person to come into the door, hit the ground running, jump right in, starting running pieces of equipment, continue their learning and education in the process."

LENOX Industrial Tools, East Longmeadow, MA – John Guzzo, LENOX Flow Line Manager - "I think what meant the most to LENOX was the commitment on the part of those [trainees] who gave their time without pay for the M.O.S.T.® training to show this company that they were serious about wanting to learn the tools necessary to excel and succeed as members of this team. Derrick not only did this during his training, but has shown that same commitment over the past four months. He is well liked by his co-workers and has vastly become an asset to this company."