St. Charles, IL - April 16, 2008 - Bison Gear and College of DuPage announce the 1st graduation for the Manufacturing Skill Standards Council (MSSC) certificate students on May 9, 2008 at Bison Gear headquarters. Festivities include a Job Fair with local manufacturing companies.
The MSSC program was created in a collaborative effort with manufacturers, industry, government, educators and communities to deploy a simple, effective solution that would provide a path for young adults, adults and displaced workers to acquire the core skills needed by manufacturing companies. This certification program offers the skill sets needed by manufacturers and assists with the shortage of finding qualified labor in the manufacturing industry. The program is easily accessible and quickly acquirable.
Many organizations and leaders have endorsed the program and see the value in getting the message out to the public. CBS Evening News did a feature about Bison called "Hard Times, Good Jobs" in March discussing the challenges that Bison and other manufacturing organizations have relating to the shortage of finding qualified labor and the solution being implemented with College of DuPage regarding the MSSC.
MSSC classes meet for 12 weeks with a curriculum ranging from; applied math and manufacturing practices, blueprint reading, hand tool usage, and employment, life and safety skills. Participants must be at least 18 years old, be legal residents and meet qualification assessments.
The next class begins at College of DuPage, August 20, 2008. Funding should be available for fall term for the first 50 students accepted into the program.
About Bison Gear & Engineering Corp.
Founded in 1960, Bison Gear & Engineering Corp. designs and manufactures fractional horsepower electric motors, gearmotors and gear reducers used in industrial and commercial OEM applications worldwide. Bison's strong engineering tradition, based on Robusticity principles, offers products with up to twice as much torque in the same package as competitors. Bison employees over 250 associates in its St. Charles, IL facility which produces gearmotors and reducers in parallel shaft and right angle configurations, as well as AC & DC motors, for applications where dependability and long lifetimes are important.
