Students fresh out of high school often don’t realize the career opportunities and levels of salary existing in the North County manufacturing industry, several speakers said during a recent forum. 

EconAlliance of Northern Santa Barbara County held a Santa Maria forum on the area’s manufacturing industry where company representatives, educators and job training program leaders shared their insights. 

“We see a lot of our students coming in not knowing what the opportunities are, and what I mean by that, they’re not asking for these as majors,” said Ben Britten, chair of the Allan Hancock College Counseling Department. 

Students don’t understand that their skills could be applied to other programs such as engineering technology, robotics and mechatronics. Those programs may not require transferring to a four-year university.

The Santa Maria Joint Union High School District advertises career technical education programs, but the manufacturing opportunities seem to be the least understood, according to Paul Robinson, program director and interim principal for Pioneer Valley High School. 

Employers said they needed workers with various specialized skills that can be achieved at the high school or college levels. 

“We need to build a tighter pipeline between industry and high school and universities,” Edmund Burke of Space Information Laboratories said.

Representatives for a couple of local manufacturing companies, Melfred Borzall and Atlas Copco, said they need welders and machinists, looking to Allan Hancock College to help supply the training.

Mob Armor Chief Executive Officer Trevor Orrick said he looks beyond skills. 

“To me, it’s really about the attitude coming in more than anything,” Orrick said. 

Those who can work on a team excel quickly while those who are more reticent may need additional training, he said.

“The ideal candidate is someone who is wiling to put forth the effort and learn,” Orrick said, adding that he seeks candidates with various types of certifications showing they have experience using equipment. 

“The certifications are good for employers to know the potential employee actually has the skills,” said Hector Ramos Martinez, an industrial arts faculty member at Allan Hancock College. “Even without having the skills, if you can demonstrate that you know your way around a machine, you know how to solve a problem, even if you don’t have the certifications, you can land a good job.”

He said he gets a mixture of students, many unaware of what can be classified as manufacturing. 

“I think one of the issues I have to deal with is that manufacturing is such a broad term that the concept doesn’t really click. It could be machining. It could be injection molding,” Ramos Martinez added.

Alyssa Stovall, the workforce programs manager with the Santa Barbara County Workforce Development Board, said many employers seek soft skills such as someone who is reliable and experienced at solving problems while being willing to train them on technical aspects of the job.

Oftentimes, manufacturing jobs aren’t at the top of the list for employees, often because they’re unaware of what the positions involve.

The Workforce Development Board administers assessments that can help a job candidate evaluate the skills they have and the work they enjoy to help guide them into a job. 

“Meetings like this where we’re bringing industry and education together are super important so that everybody’s on the same page,” Stovall said. “We can make those connections to build relationships and help our job seekers find these great opportunities that they don’t even know are available, but they’re out there.”