SAMA - Upskilling your Staff Seminar & Tour of Manatee Technical College (MTC)

Our region’s manufacturers have been needing skilled labor for years, wanting to hire candidates with skills to immediately step in and run their equipment.  Didn’t happen!  Had to “settle” with hiring entry-level candidates, hoping they’d show up every day and on time.  And a handful did!  Now what?

Florida manufacturers are facing a widening skills gap. Rather than competing for scarce, already-trained talent, employers can train current staff on their own equipment, building a documented pathway that pairs paid, supervised hands-on training with structured technical instruction. For manufacturers, this means turning existing employees into highly skilled technicians over roughly two years, at a fraction of the cost and risk of the traditional degree route (or no route at all) — strengthening retention, building bench depth, and future-proofing operations against the technology shifts already reshaping the shop floor.

Who Should Attend:

• C-Level management planning for company growth and a reduced labor pool.
• Those responsible for hiring and training staff.

What You'll Learn:

• How investing in your current staff brings loyalty, retainment, and efficiency gains.
• What's covered in the curriculum — Safety & Professionalism, Industrial Electricity & Electronics, Mechanical & Fluid Power Systems, PLC & Robot Programming, Artificial Intelligence & Data Management, and Cybersecurity & System Maintenance
• Funding and incentive options — how technical college partnerships, workforce boards, and potential tax credits can offset costs

Tour of MTC:

Meet instructors and students in Manufacturing-related classrooms, including:

• Advanced Manufacturing and Production Technology
• CAD for Manufacturing
• CNC Production Specialist / Machining Technologies
• Electrical Instrumentation Technology