MVCC partners with Briggs & Stratton for welding internships

UTICA, N.Y. — Mohawk Valley Community College (MVCC) says it partnered with the Sherrill location of Briggs & Stratton Corp. for welding internships.

Briggs & Stratton — headquartered in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin — says it is the world’s largest manufacturer of small engines. The motors are common in lawn mowers.

MVCC says students enrolled in its welding certificate and degree programs worked with employees at Briggs & Stratton during the fall semester.

Briggs & Stratton extended offers of full-time employment to a few of the students involved, so for those students, the last day of instruction was followed by the first day of work, MVCC said.

“This partnership is evidence of the College’s ability to quickly respond to workforce and industry demands, and it’s an outcome of Briggs & Stratton’s expanding operation and recent economic development successes,” Tim Thomas, assistant VP for academic affairs at MVCC, said in a statement.

Briggs & Stratton currently has upwards of 100 unfilled positions, and the impending move of production jobs from Wisconsin to Sherrill will “further increase” the company’s demand for a skilled workforce in advanced manufacturing, the school added.

“We firmly believe that this partnership with Mohawk Valley Community College’s welding program will create a consistent pipeline of skilled workers to fill the needs of our manufacturing operation,” said Erin Zuck, human-resource manager at Briggs & Stratton, which also produces generators and markets pressure washers.

MVCC offers a one-year certificate in welding and an associate degree in welding technology. The program prepares students for actual welding work, or for positions as welding inspectors, welding-laboratory technicians, or welding supply and equipment sales representatives.