Part 2 of a 2 part series. Read part 1.

If you met Caitlin a few years ago you might have thought there’s not much of a successful financial future for her. She was a high school dropout and a single mother who was struggling to make ends meet in a minimum wage job.  But she was determined to find a job where she could provide a decent life for her daughter.

Someone suggested that she attend an orientation meeting at Triton College, a Chicago-area community college, to see if there was a program for her. At that event, she was introduced to Antigone Sharris, a female chair of the engineering technology department at the college. Being introduced to a woman who had both succeeded in a manufacturing career and was now teaching others how to succeed opened Caitlin’s eyes to a potential career.

Antigone suggested Caitlin apply for an NBT scholarship to study engineering technology. She won the scholarship and the rest is history.

If it hadn’t been for that meeting, and the mentoring relationship which developed, Caitlin thought she might become a makeup artist.  She is close to completing her master’s degree in Industrial Technology and Operations at Illinois Institute of Technology. “If I hadn’t gone to Triton, I would not have had the opportunity for my first job in a machine shop,” she said, “where I met the partner who has been so supportive of my academic and career plans. I’m hopeful that completing this final phase of my education will make it possible for me to land a job as a project manager or another related management role in manufacturing.”

Caitlin overcame circumstances that seemed to be stacked against her. Her dedication kept her coming to class on time and prepared, even though she had to travel across the city by public transportation to do so. Antigone Sharris recalled Caitlin’s dedication,

“She traveled to class at Triton from one side of Chicago to the other by public transportation. She was always on time and always ready to work when she got here. As with all my parent students, I was amazed to see how she made it work. I want people out there with kids to see that Caitlin is living proof that you can do it.  It requires being organized — something Caitlin was natural at — but it is doable.”

There’s no question that she’s the kind of employee that any employer would be lucky to add to their staff. And it all started with a mentor and an NBT scholarship.

There is a skilled worker crisis in manufacturing today and by 2025 it is estimated that 2 million of the 3.5 million jobs in this industry will go unfilled because of this worker shortage. (“The skills gap in U.S. manufacturing 2015 and beyond”, sponsored by The Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte, 2015)

Each year, NBT is inspiring a thousand or more young students to consider manufacturing through our summer camps and providing a helping hand to dozens of scholarship recipients.  It’s happening because of the generous philanthropy of people who believe in the future of American manufacturing.

Please consider making a gift today to help NBT provide even more scholarships and camp grants next year and beyond. A tax-deductible gift as small as $200 sends a student to manufacturing summer camp. And a gift of $2,500 provides a scholarship to a student who is studying for a career in engineering, CAD design, machine tool technology, or welding. A gift of any amount is greatly appreciated.

Help support programs that introduce young women to manufacturing.

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