Precision manufacturing to benefit from grant

Date: 10/18/2011

Oct. 19, 2011

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor

CHICOPEE — Eric Hagopian, the co-owner of Hoppe Technologies Inc., summed up the effects of the $150,000 grant that will fund a program to give precision manufacturing in Western Massachusetts a continual edge.

“It’s a win-win for employers and employees” Hagopian told Reminder Publications after the press conference on Oct. 12 announcing the funding of a program that will pay for additional training on advanced manufacturing technologies for employees of firms in the Pioneer Valley.

Hagopian said his and other companies have to continue to invest in new technologies in order to remain competitive both nationally and globally. The grant will allow the skill levels of his employees to keep pace with new manufacturing techniques.

Three of Hagopian’s 80 employees will be participating in the program. The grant is designed for 300 participants.

Over the next 18 months, the grant, which was given by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, will identify the technical requirements and standards needed by the precision machining workforce as well as establish an accelerated associate’s degree program at Springfield Technical Community College. The grant will also seek to broaden the membership of the Regional Precision Manufacturing Technology Advisory Council.

Within the precision manufacturing industry, Western Massachusetts is a well-known location, Hagopian said. “Like oil and gas in Houston [Texas], Western Massachusetts is the heart of the precision manufacturing sector,” he explained.

William Ward, executive director of the Regional Employment Board, said there are 400 companies here employing 7,500 people.

“It is a key economic driver,” he said.

This prominence has not been lost on the Patrick Administration, according to Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Greg Bialecki, who noted the “advanced manufacturing is a critical part of his [Gov. Deval Patrick’s] thinking, our thinking.”

Bialecki added, “Innovation technology can not be successful without manufacturing … a healthy U.S. economy has got to include manufacturing.”

He said the out-sourcing of manufacturing has proven to be a “mistake.”

With this latest announcement that came on the heels of other recent ones about other business expansion, State Sen. Michael Knapik said, “The Pioneer Valley is on a roll.”