JCB North America Welcomes Newest Class of Apprentices
JCB North America recently welcomed its newest group of apprentices. This year JCB adds nine manufacturing skills apprentices and five craft skills apprentices to an ever-expanding program, which began in 2011. Currently the Apprentice Program has a total of 31 apprentices working in the manufacturing business.
JCB North America currently manufactures skid steer loaders, compact track loaders, telescopic handlers and equipment for commercial and defense customers, and markets a range of more than 300 JCB machines through 120 dealers across the region. JCB’s Apprenticeship Program was introduced as the region’s first manufacturing apprenticeship program designed to increase the skilled labor workforce at the company’s headquarters in Pooler, Ga.
“When we began, we focused on the Manufacturing Skills Apprenticeship program and the first class had five apprentices,” said Tonya Poole, vice president of human resources for JCB North America. “The success of the program has been greater than we could have imagined, which led us to look for more ways to incorporate apprentices into the business. In 2019 we added the Craft Apprenticeship track offering an opportunity for graduating seniors to join JCB directly out of high school and explore different areas of the manufacturing process before deciding on a career. Both the Manufacturing Skills and Craft Skills programs have resulted in providing JCB with a highly qualified, internal pipeline of future employees and leaders and we look forward to seeing what the new class of apprentices add to the JCB business.”
JCB’s traditional Manufacturing Skills Apprentice Program is a five-year Apprenticeship Program that accepts graduating high school seniors who are interested in obtaining a manufacturing related two-year associate degree at Savannah Technical College. The JCB curriculum includes business awareness training, manufacturing foundations and on-the-job training. Apprentices rotate through several areas of manufacturing operations including Fabrication, Purchasing, Product Control and Assembly.
Craft Skills Apprentice Program
The Craft Skills Apprentice Program is a two-year program that allows high school seniors to rotate through departments on the manufacturing floor including Assembly, Fabrication, Paint and Materials. Once the Craft Skills Apprentices complete their four-month rotations, they have the opportunity to join JCB’s manufacturing team in an open position or join the traditional Manufacturing Skills Apprenticeship Program and earn their associate degree at Savannah Tech.
All apprentices are considered full-time JCB employees and receive compensation and benefits such as health, dental and eye insurance, retirement benefits and paid time off. Apprentices in the Manufacturing Skills Program also receive free tuition and all school tools and materials paid for by JCB.
The 2022 Craft apprentices are: YaNella Biggins of Woodville Tompkins Technical and Career High School; Jackson Cheeks of Islands High School; Aaron Davis of Robert W. Groves High School; Kyreese Gordon of Alfred Ely Beach High School; and Coen Ridgley of Bryan County Middle High School.
Manufacturing Skills apprentices are Aiden Cimadevilla; Steven Cowart; Caitlyn Edwards; James Everly; Aaron Freeman; Janori Higgenbottom; Kien Nguyen; Korynth Ramsby; and Scott Szurley; all of Savannah Technical College.
For more information on the JCB Apprenticeship Programs visit https://www.jcb.com/en-us/about/careers/students.
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.