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Dow Corning Needs Skilled
Workers
DOW POWERHOUSE TM Shingles
Suniva Invests $250 in Saginaw
Solar Plant
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Career
Exploration Happenings
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Career Compass
October 20, 2009
Place: North Midland
Family Center
2601 E. Shearer Road
Midland, MI 48642
Time: 10 a.m.
or 1:00 pm
October 28, 2009
Place: West Midland
Family Center, 4011 W Isabella
Road (M-20), Greendale Township
Time: 10 a.m. or 1 p.m.
November 17, 2009
Place:
MidMichigan Innovation Center, Midland
Time: 1 p.m.
or 6 p.m.
To register or for more
information...
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Career
Showcase
November 2 - 5, 2009
Place:
Various businesses in Midland
Time: 4 -
6 p.m. or 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
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Delta
Career Pathways
October
23, 2009
Place: Delta College
University Center, MI 48710
Time: 8 am -
12 pm
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Vision and Mission
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Vision:
Students, employees
and employers thrive in Midland County through rewarding technical
careers.
Mission:
Advocate the value of technical careers through collaboration
to:
§ Accurately
inform parents and students
§
Support
educational providers in preparing students
§
Connect
educational providers and industry
§
Address
systemic challenges
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Contact Us
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Jim Kostrava
Executive Vice President
MITECH+, Inc.
(989) 839-2342
Kostrava@mitechplus.com
(989) 923-1500
mitechplus.com
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Workforce Development in ACTION
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2009 MITECH+ Annual
Meeting
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Mike Rowe, star of Dirty Jobs
The 2009
MITECH+ Annual Meeting was held at the new Holiday Inn in Midland on
September 23, 2009. More than 100 people attended this event that
has become a gathering of workforce development professionals, educators,
economic development leaders, and major employers throughout the
MidMichigan region. MITECH+ CEO, Bill Moneypenny, opened the
meeting with a brief video featuring Mike Rowe, star of The
Discovery Chanel's Dirty Jobs television show
and founder of the Mikeroweworks.com website.
The program included a Keynote
address by MITECH+ Board member, James S. Smith, Midland Plant
Site Manager for the Dow Corning Corporation. His comments included
an update on the global activities of the Dow Corning Corporation Midland
plant. He also explained the importance of the lead role MITECH+
has taken in developing the advanced construction workforce in
MidMichigan.
_________________________________________
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The past year has truly been a
time of re-grouping, re-educating, re-careering, re-building, re-tooling,
re-inventing, and re-generating.The "RE" Generation refers to
all of the people across the nation that find themselves in a position
where they have to make drastic changes in order to cope with our ever
changing employment market.
MITECH+ continues to focus
solely on technical education. A technical career is a path
towards mastery of a craft or skill through systematic encounters with
the real world (also known as "hands-on training"). These
skills require an in depth understanding of natural science, which expands
a person's creativity. It is this creativity and skill that will
accelerate the growth and success of the MidMichigan region, not only
today, but well into the future.
Bill Moneypenny
MITECH+ CEO
_________________________________________
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Networking
to Work
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When it comes to job hunting, the
main "buzzword" you hear is Networking, and for good
reason. Networking is "It" when comes to landing a high
quality job. We've all heard the expression, "It's not what
you know it's who you know." Well that is not entirely true.
The fact that you "know somebody"
might help you to get a job. But without credentials, training,
experience, and know-how you are not likely to be able to keep it.
Assuming that you've secured the proper training, it is true that more
people get jobs because of "connections" and because they
"know somebody" than any other reason. They need both:
credentials and connections. But there is really a science to
networking, one that very few people have figured out.
There are some common traits of
expert networkers:
· Always on the lookout for
opportunities
· Everybody is their friend
· Ask lots of questions
· Not bashful about
"blowing their own horn"
· See opportunities [or make
opportunities] where
not previously existed
· Understand the "get your
foot in the door"
concept
[Internships / volunteering / part-time]
· Follow up personally
· Aggressively make contacts
· Humble
· Tireless
· Tenacious
Jim KostravaExecutive Vice President,
MITECH+
[More>>>>>]
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Technically
Funny
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Grassroots
Programs
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Work Based Learning
By
John Moolenaar
Everyone would agree that education is a key
priority to open doors of opportunity. Much is learned in the
classroom. As students mature, however, at some point they ask,
"When am I going to use this"? Often, a teacher is able
to demonstrate through example or story how particular information is
relevant. Other times, however, there is no substitute for hands on
experience.
Work based learning, whether in
the form of a job shadow, co-op or internship, benefits students with an
applied understanding in a particular field. Learning by doing or
apprenticeships are nothing new. But, there is a renewed interest
in this concept in today's economy because, as baby boomers retire, jobs
will be open for people in fields that require skill and on the job
training. What does a successful program require? It needs
people who are teachable and those willing to share of themselves to make
the investment in the next generation. If every student in our area
had a meaningful work based learning experience, it would be an
investment that yields a tremendous return.
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Career
Exploration in ACTION
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Career Showcase
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High School students
tour MidMichigan companies and learn about technical career opportunites
from the actual workers.
The 2009 Career
Showcase will be held on November 2 - 5, 2009, at
businesses throughout Midland county.
Students and parents are invited to select participating companies
and tour them to meet the staffs and key company representatives that can
tell them about available careers and to answer questions they might
have. There is no charge for students
to attend this important event.
[More>>>>]
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Technical Career Spotlight
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Carol Dexter
Radiographer
MidMichigan Medical Center-Midland
After 25 years of waiting tables
and tending bar, Carol Dexter enrolled in the Nursing program at
Delta College to become a Radiographer. Carol Said, "If
you are undecided about a career, don't say 'I should get back to
school', instead JUST DO IT."
Carol Dexter is the October 2009 Technical
Career Spotlight. Her story will inspire you.
Look for her full story on the MITECH+ Website by the end of October.
[More>>>>]
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In the News
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BUSINESS RELATED
Dow Corning growth spells need for skilled trades workers
by Cheryl Wade, Midland
Daily News
Dow Corning Corporation's Midland
site set what its manager called "historic production rates" in
July and August, in part because its products are shipped overseas where
economic recovery is taking place.
Site Manager James Smith spoke
Wednesday at the MITECH+ annual meeting. In the process, he stumped for
more people to enter the skilled trades that are MITECH+'s reason for
existence. Smith credited the record production to company
strategies and growth in alternative energy, especially solar.
"A lot of demand is coming from recovery
that we're seeing elsewhere in the world other than the United
States," he said. Some 60 percent of the Midland site's products are
exported.
So far this year, the Midland plant has hired 51
workers, 14 of them engineers, 24 in production and maintenance and 13 in
finance, logistics and safety and loss prevention. In the last 18 months,
Dow Corning has spent more than $150 million in capital expansions at the
plant. The plant is the sole supplier of raw material for Hemlock
Semiconductor Group's Hemlock plant, which has undergone expansions to
make polycrystalline silicon, used in the computer chip and solar
industries. The company's work with monosilane gas allows its customers
to deposit thin-film solar cells on, for example, roofing shingles or
siding.
[More>>>>]
________________________________________
DOW POWERHOUSETM Solar Shingles
Dow Unveils POWERHOUSETM Solar
Shingle
On October 5, 2009, The Dow Chemical Company unveiled its
line of DOWTM
POWERHOUSETM Solar
Shingle, revolutionary photovoltaic solar panels in the form of solar
shingles that can be integrated into rooftops with standard asphalt
shingle material. The solar shingle systems are expected to be
available in 2011, putting the power of solar electricity directly and
conveniently in the hands of homeowners.
Groundbreaking
technology from Dow Solar Solutions, (DSS) integrates low-cost, thin-film
CIGS photovoltaic cells into a proprietary roofing shingle design, which
represents a multi-functional solar energy generating roofing
product. The innovative product design reduces installation
costs because the conventional roofing shingles and solar generating
shingles are installed simultaneously by roofing contractors. DSS
expects an enthusiastic response from roofing constractors since no
specialized skills or knowledge of solar array installations are
required.
__________________________________________________
Suniva to Invest $250 million in
Saginaw County Solar Manufacturing Facility
Georgia-based
Suniva Inc. will invest $250 million in a new solar manufacturing
facility in Saginaw County's Thomas Township. Suniva will create 500 new
jobs over the next five years subject to receiving a Department of Energy
loan guarantee, which the company recently applied for.
The Michigan Economic Growth Authority (MEGA) today approved a
photovoltaic Michigan Business Tax (MBT) credit for the project valued at
$15 million over five years. Michigan's photovoltaic MBT credit provides
a refundable tax credit for the construction and operation of a facility
that develops and manufactures photovoltaic technology, photovoltaic
systems or photovoltaic energy. Other state and local incentives will be
considered at a future date.
In August, 12 Michigan
projects were awarded more than $1.35 billion from the U.S. Department of
Energy to expand their advanced-battery manufacturing capabilities in the
state, including the planned battery plant at The Dow Chemical Co.'s
Michigan Operations in Midland.
[More>>>>]
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It PAY$ to Choose a Technical Career
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