A Call to Action
Walworth County business leaders, educators, and engaged community members came together April 20th at the Elkhorn campus of Gateway Technical College to celebrate the new $1.25 million RPM Manufacturing Center. The project included a new 3,200-square foot expansion, which is dedicated to machining and houses both manual and state-of-the-art CNC mills and lathes (Haas), as well as a CNC Swiss lathe from the Japanese builder Tsugami and their U.S. Importer Morris Midwest.
Precision Plus is proud to be part of launching this significant project, and we are excited to see what it will contribute to the future of our industry. Investments have been made in infrastructure, equipment, curriculum, and quality instructors. However, consistent and ongoing support from our entire community to deliver a steady pipeline of passionate students is necessary to ensure its success over the long term. Together, let us demonstrate to our young adults what a career in manufacturing looks like and show them the education path that will help them get there, with the best value for their investment.
The RPM Manufacturing Center was made possible by public-private partnerships. Other key contributors who dug deep to help Precision Plus realize this dream for Walworth County include:
- Brad Morris and the entire Morris Midwest team for the Tsugami S205 Swiss CNC lathe
- Jamie Schwarz of CNC Indexing & Bar Feeding for the magazine bar feeder for the Tsugami lathe
- Hanan Fishman and the PartMaker team for their CAM software support
- Rick Nowacki of Concept Machine Tool and Carl Zeiss for their help with the DuraMax coordinate measuring machine (CMM)
- Snap-on Tools and Haas Automation for the ongoing education they provide across the country
- Kenall Lighting and CEO Jim Hawkins for their support with LED lighting for the labs
With this investment, Precision Plus, our business partners, and educators are making huge strides in changing the perception of manufacturing careers for young people and improving the quality of life for the residents of Walworth County, and beyond.
Please join us in sharing with our young leaders of tomorrow the great benefits of an exciting career in manufacturing.
To read more on the opening of the RPM Manufacturing Center, follow the BizTimes article by Arthur Thomas at:
http://www.biztimes.com/2016/04/20/gateway-opens-manufacturing-center-in-elkhorn/
