Career Technical Training Helping Drive Workforce in Butler County
County's unemployment rates have plummeted 63% in past four years
Eighteen year old Jessica McNaughton is training for a cutting edge career.
“I would love to be a quality control inspector once I leave here,” said McNaughton.
McNaughton is a senior at Butler County Career Academy. She’s been learning the art of welding for three years.
“Right now I’m working on 70-18’s and hoping I can move up to the next level,” she said.
It is this type of career technical education that’s helping drive the Butler County workforce.
“They have done a marvelous job of running the Career Tech Academy at Greenville High School,” said David Hutchison, Executive Director of the Butler County Commission for Economic Development.
Hutchison is responsible for attracting new business to the county. He’s seen a rise in industrial manufacturing, specifically automotive.
“We are regionally impacted by what happens in Montgomery, specifically in the automotive industry,” he said.
Hutchison says industrial maintenance courses help ensure expanding employers a skilled workforce.
“Those are some of the key things that would create employment opportunities for them in here in Butler County or in the area.”
“Not only are we preparing the future workforce here with Butler County school students, but we’re also helping our community with the existing workforce,” said Jennifer Burt, Career & Technical Education Director at Butler County Career Academy.
And it’s working. In 2013 the unemployment rate was 11.7 percent. Today, it’s only 4.4.
“That’s a 63 percent decrease in unemployment in Butler County by itself,” said Hutchison.
And that’s good news for soon-to-be graduates like McNaughton.
The Butler County Career Academy not only trains high school students like McNaughton, but they are also working with local automotive companies to further train their workers on skills like welding.
