In April 2007, a group of manufacturers joined with educators, Van Nuys Airport officials, aviation enthusiasts and others to form the San Fernando Valley Aviation/Aerospace Collaborative to stir interest in high school students to consider careers in those industries. Part of the program includes offering internships at member businesses for students in the engineering curriculum at Monroe High School. The Business Journal spoke with the representatives of some of the manufacturing companies to learn why they joined the group. Dave Rottner President C-P Manufacturing Corp. Van Nuys Having already been involved with a mentorship program at Van Nuys High School, joining the Valley collaborative was an easy fit for C-P Manufacturing. The company likes helping students of high school age, said its president Dave Rottner, who believes that the earlier a student is exposed to what manufacturing involves the better chance they have of considering it as a career. Rottner is of the generation that attended high school when industrial arts classes were common. He admits to needing a lot of help himself when he was a student. He later turned his life around. The leader of a Bible study group was also the then-owner of C-P and Rottner started at the company with little knowledge of machining. When the owner wanted to sell due to health problems, Rottner and his wife stepped in to buy the company. “I think mentoring is a big thing in kids’ lives,” Rottner said. “I strongly believe in it when kids need a direction and need help.” C-P does general machining for customers such as Cessna and Boeing. With schools eliminating shop classes, the collaborative steps in to fill the void with internship programs at its member companies. The students from Monroe not only learn about a trade but have contact with others off campus. Now, schools are beginning to realize the mistake of cutting industrial arts classes because not every student is equipped to go to college, Rottner said. The amazing thing to him is the amount of support the collaborative has received from the Valley community, be it from the companies, Monroe faculty or the offices of Los Angeles City Council members. The passion in the voices of the collaborative members at the monthly meeting shows they are interested in bettering the lives of the students and giving their time to do that, Rottner said. “Money is not the answer. It is the time and the care. Those are the things you put into these kids that will show results.” Randy Jones Vice President Xceliron Chatsworth Xceliron is one of the newest members of the collaborative. One of the main reasons the company got involved was to participate in getting the word out to high school and college students about the opportunities in manufacturing, said its vice president Randy Jones. Having students visit the company helps dispel any preconceived notions about what manufacturing is like, Jones said. There have been instances where visiting students expressed an interest in becoming engineers and then found out there are similarities with manufacturing, Jones said. Getting through to principals and counselors can be tough, though. They tend to look down at the skills needed to run a machine, not knowing that companies can spend $100,000 to $300,000 on a single piece of equipment, Jones said. “You need to have good qualified people who have basics in math,” Jones said. Like Rottner at C-P Manufacturing, Jones is also of the age when high school still had industrial arts classes. And like Rottner, he decries their being cut because it takes away exposure for the opportunities such jobs present. Having joined the collaborative, Xceliron plans to take advantage of the internship program this spring. The company has brought in student interns from Chatsworth High School and Los Angeles Valley College. What Jones likes about the collaborative is that large aerospace companies like Pratt & Whitney/Rocketdyne and Northrop Grumman Corp. joined. Involvement by high-profile firms will raise awareness of the collaborative with the public, Jones said. “That is what it is going to take to recognize is a great thing,” Jones said. Steve Cormier CEO Global Aerospace Technology Corp. In taking part in the collaborative, Global Aerospace CEO Steve Cormier concedes there is a selfish reason to take part. “We are going to be in the Valley for years, and we want to have employees,” Cormier said. One of four major companies in the U.S. making cargo loading systems primarily for commercial aircraft, Global Aerospace was one of the original companies in the formation of the collaborative. It is a good business decision to ensure the availability of a qualified and trained workforce and the message the company wants to get out through the collaborative is that jobs are available, Cormier said. Last spring, the company took in six apprentices from Monroe High School for what was a positive experience. Especially appreciated was the feedback received at the end of the six-week program of the progress made by the students. The time spent at Global was not only about making cargo systems but life skills needed to find a job after high school. In having to be teachers themselves, the Global employees working with the students had to know how to do their jobs all that much better. Cormier has been involved in manufacturing for his adult career. He bought Global Aerospace in 2006 and employs 42 workers. “It is very important for the kids to understand there is something else out there that they can do,” Cormier said. Lidia Gorko Chairman and CEO Gorko Industries Inc. North Hills Manufacturing is a challenging yet rewarding career. That is the message Lidia Gorko would like students who intern at her company to walk come away with. “You can take pride in what you do because you know the parts you participate in making are going on the airplanes and they’d better be good,” Gorko said. A job shop that makes custom parts for commercial and military aircraft and some medical devices, Gorko Industries is unique among the members of the collaborative in that it is a woman-owned business in an industry dominated by men. (Airpac Enterprises is another collaborative member with a female CEO.) Gorko signed on to the collaborative after a meeting with its coordinator, Laurie Golden, sparked her interest. Like other business people taking part in the program, Gorko recognizes the need for creating interest in young people to look at manufacturing as a viable career path. Seven Monroe students interned at the company last year, and another seven will participate this spring. Some of the former interns later expressed an interest in wanting to work there, Gorko said. The best workers for her company are those with an interest and passion in aviation and making parts that go on aircraft, Gorko said. For female students, Gorko serves as an example of how far a woman can go in manufacturing, although managing a company takes skills that either gender can do equally. Gorko, however, does like to get involved in the technical aspects of the manufacturing process such as knowing how to read blueprints, visualizing how parts will be made, and estimating the cost to make them. “There has to be an interest in putting an effort into it,” Gorko said.
