Speed puts community colleges front and center

Thomas Bailey, director of the Community College Research Center at Teachers College, Columbia University, said he believes such targeted workforce programs can be successful if well-focused, but there's been little hard research.

One concern: If training is too narrowly tailored to particular companies, and doesn't award credit, workers may be stuck with non-transferable skills if the employer goes under.

Brian Gasiewski, a division leader on the factory floor at Fitzpatrick, doesn't worry much about that. Skills like GDT, he said, are important across the industry.

Gasiewski was previously enrolled in a degree program at Macomb but isn't at the moment due to family and time constraints. He may return someday, but for now says focusing on training targeted to precisely what Fitzpatrick does is the best way to advance his career here.

That looks like a better bet than it might have two years ago, when the company's sales fell by half. In 2011, however, they rebounded to their second highest level ever.

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Follow Justin Pope at http://www.twitter.com/JustinPopeAP.