Manufacturing Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

DoHS Encourages Women To Apply For Manufacturing Apprenticeship Program

The West Virginia Department of Human Services (DoHS) is encouraging female recipients of SNAP to apply for a manufacturing apprenticeship program.

The West Virginia Department of Human Services (DoHS) is encouraging female recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Progam (SNAP) to apply for a manufacturing apprenticeship program.

Applications are being accepted for the West Virginia Women Work (WVWW) Step Up for Women Advanced Manufacturing Pre-Apprenticeship program.

The DoHS has partnered with WVWW since 2017 to help women explore, train and secure employment in non-traditional occupations, especially skilled trades such as carpentry and construction.

The program’s Spring 2024 class begins on Feb. 26, 2024 in Charleston.

The 10-week, employment-based, pre-apprenticeship training program is designed to prepare women aged 18 and older for entry-level positions and apprenticeships in advanced manufacturing.

Participants will learn hands-on training such as learning to operate high-tech machines to make products used in medical, aerospace, pharmaceuticals and auto industries, in addition to obtaining licenses and certifications.

“Our continued collaboration with WV Women Work creates tremendous opportunities for West Virginia women,” said Janie Cole, DoHS Bureau for Family Assistance commissioner. “It is our hope that the Advanced Manufacturing Pre-Apprenticeship program will help equip women with the training and tools needed to find rewarding careers and make meaningful changes for themselves and their families.”

SNAP and SNAP Employment and Training (E&T) clients should speak with their DoHS county office caseworker. Applications are also available online.

Boston Metal To Receive Grant To Build Chromium Plant In Weirton

The factory, which will employ 200 workers, will produce ultra-pure chromium and high-temperature alloys needed across various clean energy technologies.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misspelled the name of the company.

A federal grant will support a high-tech manufacturing facility and bring jobs to the Northern Panhandle.

The U.S. Department of Energy awarded Boston Metal a $50 million grant to build a chromium plant in Weirton, one of seven sites nationwide selected as part of the Advanced Energy Manufacturing and Recycling Program.

The factory, which will employ 200 workers, will produce ultra-pure chromium and high-temperature alloys needed across various clean energy technologies.

The department awarded a total of $275 million to West Virginia and six other states.

The investment is part of the $1 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a 2021 law pushed by U.S. Sens. Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito.

President Joe Biden signed the bill into law two years ago this month.

Toyota Expands Student Program To Include Putnam County

Toyota West Virginia is expanding its high school education program in West Virginia where students get hands-on manufacturing experience before graduation.

Juniors and seniors in Putnam County can now join the 4T Academy, a work-based learning program at the Buffalo, West Virginia facility.

Students gain real world experience in electrical, pneumatics, hydraulics, precision machining, industrial automation, robotics and more while working alongside and learning from industry professionals. Seniors receive an hourly wage during their final semester in the program.

Toyota West Virginia established the program last year in a partnership with Kanawha County Schools along with The Education Alliance and Purdue University’s Indiana Manufacturing Competitiveness Center.

Twenty-four Putnam County students from five schools will join 12 Kanawha County students from eight schools in the program next year.

Oldest Continuously Operating Manufacturing Plant In W.Va. Closes Doors

The Halltown Paperboard Mill in Jefferson County quietly shut down last month, marking the closure of the oldest continuously operating manufacturing plant in West Virginia.

Updated on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022 at 9:30 a.m.

The Halltown Paperboard Mill in Jefferson County quietly shut down last month, marking the closure of the oldest continuously operating manufacturing plant in West Virginia.

Jefferson County Development Authority Executive Director Dennis Jarvis confirmed the closing of the 153-year-old recycled paperboard plant. Jarvis says it accounts for a loss of around 70 manufacturing jobs in the county, though the exact number is unknown.

“They’re keeping a skeleton crew for the facility that makes sure that the machinery is maintained properly,” he said. “I think their intention is to look at potential reuse, redevelopment of the facility.”

The closure comes after a fire damaged the plant last June. A combination of the fire and other nationwide issues like labor shortage and supply chain disruption were cited as reasons for the plant’s closure.

“The economic condition for the company is one that we’re seeing throughout many sectors here in West Virginia, here in the panhandle,” Jarvis said. “So they had all that going against them prior to the fire.”

The authority is also helping some of the displaced workers land on their feet, noting they’ve helped five former workers of the plant land jobs at TeMa, a production facility for construction equipment in nearby Kearneysville.

Parent company Ox Industries will continue to use the physical building as a maintenance hub, with the building also housing the plant’s accounting team.

The Halltown Paperboard Mill recently celebrated its 150th year of business in 2019, having originally opened in 1869 as Eyster and Son. It was the oldest continuously operating plant in the state, though its total lifespan is predated by tool manufacturer Warwood Tool, which opened its doors in Martins Ferry, Ohio in 1854 before moving across the Ohio River to Wheeling in the early 1900s. The mill was acquired by Ox Industries in 2007.

Ox Industries did not respond to WVPB’s request for comment before the date of publication.

Editor’s note: This story was updated to clarify the status of Halltown Paperboard Mill as the oldest, continuously operating industry in W.Va.

W.Va. Students Train With Computer Controlled Machines

A group of students recently got a taste of how to create metal equipment with computer-controlled machines.

The Robert C. Byrd Institute is offering free CNC Machining Bootcamps to attract new people to the field of machine manufacturing. CNC stands for Computer Numerical Controlled, meaning that the machines are operated through computer inputs.

Rick Smoot is an instructor for the inaugural bootcamp. He says that the bootcamp works as an introduction to working with CNC metal mills and lathes.

“It introduces people to manufacturing, specifically machining; how to set coordinates; operate the machines to produce good parts,” he said.

Carol Howerton is the senior strategic advisor for Workforce Development at RCBI. She says the bootcamps are accessible for anyone, regardless of their familiarity with manufacturing.

“We may have someone fresh out of high school, a 17 year old up to a 60 year old,” Howerton said. “It’s a great skill to have, whether it’s for a hobby; you want to do something around the house, or you want a full time career.”

The bootcamps are offered through the U.S. Department of Defense-funded America’s Cutting Edge, or ACE initiative, and in partnership with the National Composites Institute.

“We have guys that maybe have been displaced. We also have people that through workman’s comp, can’t do the normal job they used to do and are being retrained,” Smoot said. “A lot of veterans! Generally all it takes is a really genuine interest in it.”

According to Michael Gomez, a Senior Innovation Research and Development Engineer at MSC Industrial Supply Company, ACE aims to improve American manufacturing by developing new technology and using it to train people in manufacturing.

“We’re going to help show people with CNC Machining early on and understand machine dynamics early on, so that when those students and those people go out into industry, they understand what it is,” Gomez said.

Gomez gave a presentation at the bootcamp on the CNC program Mill Max.

The program works by tapping the metal mill’s tool-tip with a hammer, and measuring the tip’s vibrations. This measurement can be used to optimize the mill’s speed, which affects its cutting efficiency.

Noah Smith is both a student with RCBI’s associates program for CNC Machining and their bootcamp. He works at a machine shop and says he applied to the bootcamp to expand his skills.

“There’s a lot of machine shops around here that deal with RCBI and looking to employ students that come straight out of here,” Smith said.

RCBI plans to offer the bootcamps monthly starting in January, with more programs available in Charleston and Huntington.

Jefferson County Residents Hold First Rockwool Construction Site Protest

More than 200 protesters rallied at the construction site of the Rockwool plant in Ranson, Jefferson County.

Hundreds of people opposed to Rockwool organized a three-hour protest at the construction site this week.

Rockwool is a Denmark-based manufacturing company that produces stone wool insulation. It’s an alternative to other insulation, such as fiberglass, and it’s touted as ‘green.’ But the way it’s produced is by burning down basalt rock and recycled slag.

A large portion of Jefferson County residents and those from nearby areas have been protesting the plant for the past year citing health concerns; the main one being for students at an elementary school less than a mile away.

Residents in Jefferson County rally at the construction site of the Rockwool plant in Ranson, W.Va. on May 16, 2019.

The protest was organized by the group Resist Rockwool. David Levine, who is the former president of the group, said Rockwool has recently begun vertical construction.

“And [Rockwool believes] that if they show that the walls are going up fast, and this is happening, and this is happening, then at some point we’re going to give up, but hell, walls have fallen down. We’re not going away.”

Rockwool broke ground in June of last year. Since then, there have been several pending lawsuits filed from opposition groups, rallies and an overall division within communities in the Eastern Panhandle.

**Editor’s Note: This story was corrected on May 20, 2019 to reflect David Levine’s role in the Resist Rockwool group.