Alec Young has worked at a grocery store, a hardware store and, most recently, for a small construction firm since graduating high school several years ago.

But when he heard about a new training opportunity that could result in a job and a secure future at General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, he jumped at the chance. Now 22, Alec is among the first group of trainees enrolled in a new manufacturing technician course offered through Southern Maine Community College in partnership with BIW and the Maine Quality Centers.

Through the partnership, SMCC’s workforce development department is providing training for up to 60 manufacturing technicians and up to 30 welders in the months ahead. Participants who successfully complete the training will be interviewed for positions at BIW.

The training provides BIW the skilled workers it needs to fill critical jobs at its shipyard. With many of its experienced employees approaching retirement age, BIW needs more shipyard workers who are trained in specific skills.

For Alec Young and others in the program, the training provides them with in-demand skills that address BIW’s workforce needs. SMCC is committed to delivering workforce development training that helps Maine businesses, Maine workers and the Maine economy.

A Damariscotta resident, Alec heard about the program from his girlfriend’s father, who works at BIW. In the course, he is learning about such things as power tool operations, blueprint reading, math and tool safety. Learning those skills gives him a shot at a job as a ship fitter, a pipefitter or general laborer at BIW, complete with benefits, good pay and a bright future. Working at BIW, he says, would be a “golden job.”

“I’ve always been interested in engineering, shipyards and boats, so I thought this would be a good opportunity,” Alec said a recent training session. “I want to work at a place where I can eventually retire from, and BIW would be able to help me with that.”

Workforce development is a vital component of SMCC’s mission to transform lives and communities through education and training. The program with BIW provides hands-on training for real-world skills for real jobs at one of Maine’s largest employers. The training is held at SMCC’s Midcoast Campus in Brunswick and is funded through the Maine Community College System’s Maine Quality Centers, which provides customized workforce training grants to Maine employers.

For the program, SMCC is holding a 120-hour manufacturing technician training program for three groups of 15 to 20 trainees. We’ll also offer a 120-hour class covering welding fundamentals and safety to three more groups of up to 10 trainees.

SMCC was founded in 1946 as the Maine Vocational Technical Institute to teach returning World War II veterans new skills for the post-war economy.

While SMCC has grown and evolved through the decades, we remain true to our roots. Seventy-two years after our founding, we are still providing people the skills they need for bright futures and responding to workforce needs by supplying Maine businesses with the skilled employees they need to be competitive

Ran Cantor is the president of Southern Maine Community College.