If you read the blogs on our website, you already know that Sirois Tool is a pioneer when it comes to cultivating the next generation of toolmakers and machinists.

We’ve partnered with technical high schools for years, and we offer their promising students the opportunity to work with us part time while they participate in the Department of Labor’s Pre-Apprenticeship program.

After graduation, these teenaged students start working with us full time while they follow an approved paid apprenticeship program. The program, coupled with guidance and mentoring from our more senior employees, helps these young people develop into skilled toolmakers and machinists.

Recently, our efforts have become newsworthy. In July, Connecticut’s WFSB Channel 3 News visited our facility and interviewed Sirois Tool CEO and President Alan Ortner, who explained our company’s apprenticeship program in detail. The video aired July 23 and is on WFSB’s website here.

As noted in the video, CBIA reported that 86% of Connecticut manufacturers are still struggling to find and retain qualified employees, with almost half of them saying a shortage of skilled labor is their biggest obstacle toward success.

Sirois Tool is one Connecticut manufacturer that is actively resolving this problem. We credit our apprenticeship program with helping us find and develop the talented workforce we have today and will need in the future. It’s a program that benefits the students as well as the company.

“At 16 years old they can start working part time in a place like Sirois and be making an average of $15.25/hour. By the time their fellow students graduate from a 2-year college the manufacturing apprentice will have moved on to a role that can be making over $20/hour.” Ortner says

Retaining these employees isn’t a problem for us, either. The students we hire recognize and appreciate the investments we’ve made in their career development, and they’re eager to help the company grow. In turn, Sirois rewards their efforts with competitive salaries, profit sharing, fully paid health insurance, and much more.

Ortner says he appreciates the positive media attention from Channel 3, but he looks forward to the day when apprenticeship programs like Sirois’ are the norm and no longer considered newsworthy.

“Connecticut’s technical high schools are among the best in the nation,” he says. “Companies who aren’t tapping into this resource are definitely missing out.”

Contact Us for more information about our apprenticeship program.