Editor s Note: This is the first in a three-part Sunday series exploring advanced manufacturing, a field that has remained resilient throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
Isabelle McKeon was 23 years old when she joined the Manufacturing Pipeline Initiative at Three Rivers Community College in Norwich.
It s been nearly 3 years since she made the decision - changing careers from the massage therapy business because it wasn t satisfying. Her mother, an employee at General Dynamics Electric Boat, told McKeon about MPI. I wanted something more consistent, McKeon said.
McKeon took a 10-week drafting class in 2018. After graduating from the program later that year, she landed a job at Collins & Jewell Company in Februrary 2019, where she is a junior quality assurance engineer.
As a business reporter, I write about small businesses opening and closing, manufacturing, food and drink, labor issues and economic data. I particularly love writing about the impact of state and federal policy on local businesses. I also do some education reporting, covering colleges in southeastern Connecticut and regional K-12 issues.
Erica Moser
As a business reporter, I write about small businesses opening and closing, manufacturing, food and drink, labor issues and economic data. I particularly love writing about the impact of state and federal policy on local businesses. I also do some education reporting, covering colleges in southeastern Connecticut and regional K-12 issues.
What do we get for the billions spent on job training? Connecticut wants to know.
Laser cutting at Sound Manufacturing. | photo by: MARK PAZNIOKAS :: CTMIRROR.ORG
Sandra Claxton always worked without a financial cushion. That’s typical for the low-wage workers who perform the vital work of caring for the infirm and elderly as health aides, certified nursing assistants and personal care attendants. Still, her fall into homelessness after the end of her marriage in 2017 was stunning.
Her husband put her out. That’s her phrase. On her own, she could not afford the $400 monthly payment on the Subaru that took her to assignments as a visiting home health aide, a job she had held for seven years. The dominoes fell fast. No car meant no job. No job meant no way to get an apartment.