Employee Skills Training Grant Award
GE Energy was awarded $50,696 matched by an investment of more than $121,000 for an Employee Skills Training program. The Fortune 10 company’s Pensacola facility opened in 2000 and is the largest producer of wind turbines in the U.S.In less than two years, GE has hired and trained dozens of new employees at the Pensacola plant. While some top managers are GE veterans from other locations, the Pensacola facility does make an effort to recruit within the region, including visits to the University of West Florida and Florida State University as well as seeking former military personnel with demonstrated leadership experience. Plant jobs are posted through Workforce Escarosa, the regional workforce development board for Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties, and new employees typically start and train during the third shift.
“We’ve seen a big benefit from increased on-the-job training,” says Bill Sawarynski, Quality Leader for GE Energy Pensacola. “The grant required us to add more structure and really forced us to put some discipline and rigor into our training program.”
Since Pensacola is not a big manufacturing hub, the local workforce does not collectively have extensive manufacturing experience. However, that can work to a company’s advantage. “In the wind industry, there are not many people anywhere in the U.S. with much experience,” Sawarynski explains. “We operate more like Microsoft than a typical manufacturer. You have to figure it out as you go along, and we need people who can learn on the fly. Having employees with different backgrounds brings a variety of perspectives to the table.”
“We hired people who had never tried manufacturing and probably would not have been successful in this environment without on-the-job training,” states Training Coordinator Thomas Russell. “I’ve seen people discover that they do have mechanical aptitude and even teach us a new way of doing things. I believe that none of us are as smart as all of us.”
Russell tracks employee training through qualification sheets. Workers are assigned to work with a mentor for anywhere from eight to 200 hours to learn a new task or process. “Employees must become proficient in every step in their area, from cradle to grave,” says Russell.
The grant funding has allowed for employees to train on more than one step in the process. “Cross training makes the employee more flexible and increases overall productivity,” Sawarynski says.
Learning more about the turbine creates opportunities for overtime and sought-after assignments such as field work and serving as an ambassador for plant tours. “It is definitely known around the plant that you always want to receive more training,” Russell points out.
One employee taking full advantage of the training is Miesha Lang who started at GE as a contract labor material handler in the warehouse. She quickly worked her way up to industrial fork truck operator and achieved several upgrades, ultimately qualifying for heavy lift jobs up to 36,000 pounds. Lang went on to train as an overhead and jib crane operator where she is tasked with production moves of heavy equipment components and assemblies up to 60 tons. She has also become qualified in three areas of manufacturing for the 1.5 megawatt wind turbine.
“Miesha is one of the hardest working technicians that I have the pleasure of working for me,” says Lang’s supervisor, Goldye Clark. “She takes great pride in her workmanship, sets the pace in her work area and expects others to keep up. I wish I had 10 more just like her.”
Lang was less sure of herself when she first came on board and is thankful for the training opportunities. “I was terrified at first, even to the point that my leg was shaking,” admits Lang. “Through all of my training, and with the patience of my trainers, I was able to move forward with confidence as an operator. Today I am one of the most qualified in my area.”
GE Energy Pensacola ships its end product around the continental U.S. via on-site rail and could ship via barge in the future. “The 1.5 megawatt turbine we’ve produced here since the plant opened barely fits on a truck,” explains Sawarynski. “We started producing a 2.5 megawatt turbine which must ship by rail and just recently acquired a company that makes 3.5 megawatt turbines.”
All of the turbines assembled in Pensacola are sold outside Northwest Florida. In addition to the revenue GE brings into the region, the company funnels more dollars into Northwest Florida by contracting with local suppliers, including Jupiter Composites and Gexpro in Pensacola and W Tech in neighboring Milton.