The 20 are the newest employees of Gestamp, hired after successfully completing the Manufacturing Skill Standards Council (MSSC) program offered at the technology center. They were hired July 26 and are now working as press operators, assembly operators and in quality sorting at $12 an hour plus benefits.

Gestamp Human Resource Manager Susan Becksted  said the program was offered exclusively to Union County residents and is part of the company’s commitment to local economic development.

“This was only offered to Union County residents,” Becksted said. “Gestamp is dedicated to building the economic growth of Union County. A large percentage of these people have been out of work for some time. It’s really a blessing for them to get something they can build a future with.”

Becksted said in May, Gestamp entered into an agreement to hire 20 local residents supported by a grant through the State Workforce Investment Board with the Quickjobs Carolina program. Students who successfully completed the MSSC program then underwent a one-week observational period at the Gestamp facility. If they passed that and met other company criteria they were hired.

MSSC is a nationally recognized certification program that provides students with training in manufacturing processes and production; quality and continuous improvement; maintenance awareness; and safety. Students who successfully complete the program are certified production technicians, a status recognized nationwide.

“They can put it on a resume and go anywhere in the United States and it’s going to be recognized,” Becksted said.

Gestamp is a Spanish-owned global manufacturing company with its North American headquarters in the metro-Detroit area with U.S. operating facilities in Alabama, Michigan, South Carolina and Tennessee. Its Union County facility, located at 1 LSP Road, is a Tier One dedicated supplier to BMW, providing precious Class A stampings and assemblies.

It was as part of its efforts to meet the demands of BMW that Gestamp agreed to hire 20 Union County residents who completed the MSSC program. Becksted said the 20 new employees will be working to produce the stampings and assemblies required for BMW’s new X-3 automobile. Gestamp is also already supplying stampings and assemblies for BMW’s X-6.

Ty Wright, site coordinator for the technology center, said he was pleased with the results of the effort and hoped it would be just the first of many such cooperative efforts between the center and local industry.

“I’m pleased to say that all the students trained by the advanced technology center and hired by Gestamp are Union County residents,” Wright said. “We hope that due to the success of this training and hiring program that Gestamp and other Union County companies would like to partner with the advanced technology center on similar projects in the future.”

“We are very pleased with the outcome of the MSSC Program at the Advanced Technology Center and welcome the 20 new Union County residents to our team,” said Gestamp South Carolina General Manager Carmen Evola.