A local, woman-owned small business has partnered with one of the region’s largest employers to turn students into employees.
WesWorks, which manages Savannah River Mission Completion’s project controls initiatives, has hired six graduates from the project controls apprenticeship program at Aiken Technical College as full-time employees.
Daniel Faulk, Vice President of Projects with WesWorks, told ABD they have faced challenges transitioning potential employees from their current jobs into project controls. It is a highly sought-after field that is in demand across the country, but companies require applicants with experience.
“What this program has done is address that challenge,” he said. “I feel like we’ve created a pathway for professionals to get into project controls through this apprentice program and have an opportunity to obtain real-life on-the-job training in our field. The classroom experience that they gained in the courses that they took really sets them up for a successful career in project controls and has given us an opportunity to help bring some of those really talented resources into our industry.”
Colleen Hart, Deputy Director of Communications for Savannah River Mission Completion (SRMC), said the company has had apprenticeships for production operators, but this program focuses specifically on the unique requirements of project controls.
“There have not been any technical schools locally that have provided any sort of certification for project controls, which is why SRMC got together with Aiken Tech to see if we can fill that gap,” she said. “So, that was why the apprenticeship program for project controls was born to help us fill the role of these specialized workers to help us on our mission.”
For the past 10 months, apprentices were paid to work in SRMC facilities, while taking classes at Aiken Tech to learn the fundamentals of project controls. The position is responsible for mission-critical functions, including assessing risk, creating schedules and forecasts, and planning the budget.
“Project controls are the ones looking at the big picture of our entire liquid waste system plan and making sure everything’s going to fit together in a timely way, making sure things are executed efficiently within cost, schedule, all of that,” said Hart.
Faulk said the partnership between Aiken Technical College and SRMC was integral to the success of the program. Developing trained employees is particularly important to fill positions being created as veteran employees on-site retire.
“It’s a way to ensure the pipeline is continuously growing, not only in our field of project controls, but it’s something you could carry over to anything,” Faulk explained. “And we are one of the first to, if not the first, to do a project controls specific apprenticeship program.”
In the news release that announced the hiring of apprentices, apprentice-turned-employee Anna McNamee said that the caliber of the training and work provided by both SRMC and Aiken Tech helped her better understand the job and its responsibilities.
“This program was vital in providing me with essential skills in cost analysis, scheduling, and Earned Value Management techniques that I needed to pursue my career,” McNamee said. “The knowledge that I have gained from this apprenticeship program will be invaluable while working on my current project and in the future as I continue to develop in project controls.”
WesWorks also participates in SRMC’s Small Business Mentor-Protégé Program.
Ashley Hannah, SRMC’s Small Business Program Manager, said it is a Department of Energy (DOE) program.
“SRMC is the mentor and helps guide and teach small business proteges like WesWorks that can look in the real world,” said Hannah. “As they were looking at the need for a well-qualified workforce, different conversations started happening. With help from professional mentors, the students learned about the responsibilities that project controls entail, such as cost, scheduling, reporting, and estimating.”
Faulk said the program is designed to help small businesses seeking opportunities in government contracts.
“It’s a program to allow the proteges to lean on their mentors in areas of business, business systems, and procurement rules,” he said. “Various processes and procedures that the larger contractors have used to be successful, taking some of those and implementing them within our company to set ourselves up in the best possible way for success on future government contracts.”
To learn more about the DOE’s Mentor-Protégé program, visit:
https://www.savannahrivermissioncompletion.com/mentor-protege-program
