Newburyport business awarded $100,000 federal grant

  • 2012-04-07
A Newburyport machine shop has revitalized business and jetted into the aerospace age thanks to a $100,000 federal grant.

Mike Munday of Arwood Machine Corp. tapped into funds made possible by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, which saved him from closing up shop and laying off staff. The funding Munday received re-educated his staff and launched his company into the aerospace parts manufacturing sector. As a matter of fact, he has opening for nine positions and is still looking for qualified people in the $50,000 plus salary level.

Noting the success of the federal grant awarded to companies such as Arwood, the Massachusetts legislature has filed to continue the Workforce Investment Act. Federal fund, combined with linking post-secondary education with job openings in manufacturing, the health care industry and advanced biotechnology. The goal is to match skilled workers to existing openings in the workplace.

The latest Bureau of Labor Stats indicate that despite news to the contrary, there are 3.5 million jobs available across the U.S. but training workers hasn’t kept pace. It is estimated that almost 120,000 openings are available in Massachusetts alone. With statistics like that, the field is ripe for Print companies to roll out business card printing in the next decade.

Currently, community colleges in Massachusetts are eligible for $20 million in federal funding to train workers. Munday of Arwood Machine Corp. had the benefit of a one-on-one consultant to retrofit the company and his workers to manufacture parts for the aerospace industry.

Munday worked with Northern Essex Community College and with a private consultant from Northern Essex Community College to retrofit his shop and train his employees to manufacture parts for the aerospace industry.
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