23 February 2010
By Marsha Danielson, Dean of Economic Development
CBI receives $25,000 SMIF grant to Engage Older Workers
People are living longer and leaving traditional ideas about work and retirement behind. The number of older workers who remain or re-enter the workforce has been growing steadily since 1977. The Center for Business and Industry (CBI) is committed to preparing older workers for encore careers. In addition, we have developed a process to aid older workers, who are currently employed, with sharing their knowledge and expertise with future workers, so that businesses will be better able to recoup once these long-time employees retire.
CBI’s $25,000 grant to engage older workers promises to:
- Encourage and support older workers to remain a viable part of today’s workforce.
- Provide older workers with opportunities to increase their financial stability.
- Provide companies with the tools, resources, and ability to transfer knowledge between current and future employees.
- Help businesses transcend generational boundaries and workplace issues.
The grant dollars will be used to create occupational training sessions focused on a number of high-demand jobs that have proven to be of interest to older workers. Additionally, the grant will allow SCC to start a separate program to assist companies in capturing the wisdom and knowledge of soon-to-retire older employees into written documents, tools and resources that can be provided to future workers.
The occupational training sessions will benefit the community because it will increase the pool of qualified older worker and once these older workers gain employment they will see an increase in income. Succession planning will result in greater productivity for companies as all workers will have access to knowledge that will allow them to perform their jobs more efficiently and effectively. Congratulations to Brian Knutson and Mark Kluender and thanks to Kelsey Woods-Nord for her assistance.
Department of Labor grant helps fund CBI Manufacturing Consultant position
The Center for Business and Industry (CBI) is pleased to announce the addition of Tom Kammer as the new Manufacturing Consultant. Tom has been hired to assist with education and training opportunities for area industries including modular curriculum development and delivery for South Central College’s Mechatronics Technology Education Center. Tom Kammer comes to CBI from Northeast Iowa, where he spent the last 6-1/2 years as a Business & Industry training specialist, working with manufacturing and processing industries. His background includes 25 years of management experience with 2 successful manufacturing firms in both production management and administrative management capacities.
Tom specializes in Continuous Improvement and Quality disciplines, experienced in assisting manufacturers with Six Sigma, Theory of Constraints, ISO, QS, TS 16949, Statistical Process Control, GD&T, Process Capability, Welding and Fabrication, and OSHA Standards. In addition to this, he has extensive credentials in Lean and Process Improvement, both for manufacturing and administrative processes. He has trained and facilitated with over 100 organizations, including banks and health care along with manufacturers. His credentials include:
- Certified National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) trainer for Lean 101, Value Stream Mapping, 5S, and Performance Measurements for the Lean Enterprise.
- Certified Master Trainer for Workplace Lean training program designed for administrative processes.
- Certified Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) trainer for Value Stream Mapping for Office and Administrative Processes through Drew Locher.
- Extensive experience in facilitating and training 5S, Process Mapping, Value Stream Mapping, Set-up Reduction (SMED), and Kaizen/Process Improvement.
Tom earned his BA degree in Management from the University of Northern Iowa. He and his wife Brenda have 3 children and 2 grandchildren, and are excited about moving to the Mankato area and getting to know the people and the community.
