Nolato GW - School of Tech graduates

Nolato GW began our “School of Tech” in January. Local students from Randolph Union High School in Randolph, Vermont were bused to our state-of-the-art facilities for a semester-long course focused on manufacturing technology. “It is very difficult to find a high school shop class nowadays that provides relevant training in our industry,” says Cathy Tempesta, Nolato GWs Director of Human Resources. “There are very limited ways for students to become exposed to the world of manufacturing, so we launched our own ‘school’ in order to make manufacturing attractive again.”

The class, which met three times per week, began with basic business and manufacturing exposure and then progressed through the entire manufacturing process, including material selection and pricing, mold design, mold making, injection molding, and quality. RUHS faculty member and teacher Ken Cadow applied what the students learned at Nolato GW in their weekly classes. The semester culminated with a visit to Gifford Medical Center in Randolph so the students could see the products that we manufacture used in real life and learn about the ramifications if a product is not manufactured to the highest level of quality possible.

Nolato GW hosted a “graduation” ceremony for the 10 students who completed the course. During the celebration, Tempesta spoke about applying what they learned this semester in a future career at Nolato GW or another manufacturing company, and the several GW “teachers” brought to life the many highlights of the semester. Each student was then presented with a diploma and special gift from Plant Manager Scott Perkins, after which Brenan Riehl, GW Plastics CEO and President, reiterated how proud he was of these students for taking their education into the real world.

Join us in congratulating the following students on a successful semester: Amanda Cass, Kaitlin DeJoinville, Josh Huntley, Nick Jickling, Jimmy Marks, Emily Messier, Peter Pinello, Brandon Ryan, Eric Washburn, and Austin Wheatley. In addition, we would like to extend sincere gratitude to Randolph Union High School teacher Ken Cadow for his dedication to this program and the staff of RUHS for their ongoing support.

To learn more about our workforce training initiatives, please read here.