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Job skills program for high school students considering new Hernando location to save money

 
Published Nov. 25, 2015

BROOKSVILLE — Still faced with challenges to find students to enroll and manufacturers to participate, the fledgling AMskills program recently found one way to improve its bottom line.

After a discussion with the Hernando County Commission about its issues, the organization is considering new quarters for its Hernando operation, possibly at a county school site where it would save money by not having to continue to pay rent.

AMskills, a German-style apprenticeship program formally known as the American Manufacturing Skills Initiative, was started last year with $1.1 million in seed money from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. The program operates training centers in Hernando, Pasco and Pinellas counties, and each county agreed to kick in $200,000 for two years to get the program started.

Hernando County has 10 high school students enrolled. Pasco has seven, and Pinellas has 16.

The program pairs 11th- and 12th-grade students with manufacturers. They attend classes at school and spend time at the manufacturing facility to develop hands-on skills in a variety of jobs, which could include precision machinist, tool and die maker, welder or electronics technician.

At the end of the program, the student gets a German IHK certificate, which manufacturers around the world recognize.

Manufacturers must overcome challenges ranging from making the student's day mesh with the manufacturing schedule to filling immediate needs for employees, said Tom Mudano, who oversees marketing. Students are challenged to juggle the hands-on training with sports, part-time jobs and transportation issues, he said.

Fundraising has also been a challenge.

"We do need to balance the budget,'' said interim executive director Trevor Charlton, noting that program-wide there is a $133,000 deficit.

The $16,800 annual rent that the program pays in Hernando to be based in a building at Brooksville-Tampa Bay Regional Airport isn't helping, he noted. The training center in Pasco and the three centers in Pinellas County are all based in schools, so no rent has been charged.

County Commissioner Wayne Dukes asked why the Hernando program isn't based in a school.

Charlton said there was interest in getting some vendors into the building at the airport alongside the training center, but that hasn't happened.

"Would it be better in a school?'' Dukes asked.

Charlton acknowledged that the airport site was an expensive option.

"Maybe we need to take a step back,'' Dukes said, suggesting that County Administrator Len Sossamon and county staffers meet with schools superintendent Lori Romano to see if a school would be an option.

"We want the program to succeed,'' Dukes said.

Commissioner Diane Rowden said she thought the program belonged in a school. During the commissioners' discussion, she sent a text message to Romano, and at the end of the meeting she told commissioners that Romano welcomed the conversation.