Permac Industries employee Sheldon Anderson works on one of the company’s CNC milling centers.

Brandon Jacobs wasn’t sure what he wanted to do after completing a year of military training. Then he took a tour of the Permac Industries, Inc. facility in Burnsville, Minnesota, as part of the Right Skills Now program.

“I job shadowed some of the workers and was fascinated by how the machines operated and the parts they made. I knew I wanted to do a similar kind of work,” he said.

Permac Industries custom manufactures precision parts for customers worldwide in virtually all industries. At the urging of Permac owner and CEO Darlene Miller, Jacobs enrolled in Right Skills Now, a fast-track, for-credit career training program aimed at helping employers find the highly skilled, work-ready talent they need—and quickly.

ACT has partnered with the Manufacturing Institute, the National Institute of Metalworking Skills, and the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness on this nationally replicable fast-track solution in response to the more than 80 percent of US manufacturers who have reported moderate to severe shortages in skilled production workers.

Participants in the program can earn college credit and national industry certifications, including the ACT National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC) in about 16 weeks, preparing them for immediate employment in manufacturing and giving them a solid foundation to advance in higher education and careers. Applicants must take ACT WorkKeys assessments and earn an NCRC prior to being admitted into the program.

Shawn Olson (left) and Brandon Jacobs check parts on the job at Permac Industries, Inc., where the Right Skills Now program was launched last fall.

As a member of the President’s Council, Miller helped establish the Right Skills Now pilot as a pathway for solving the skills gap she has observed for years. The program is now rolling out in other states, including Nevada, Washington, and Michigan, to help both large and small manufacturers. While the initial model focuses on high-demand machining skills, officials expect that Right Skills Now will be used in other sectors and skill areas of the manufacturing economy.

The benefits of the program are significant, said Miller. “We don’t know what we’re getting when people come in and apply for jobs. We’ll know that those coming from Right Skills Now are skilled and ready to work in our business. This program will help keep manufacturing in America.”