Updated: October 12, 2020
manufacturing excellence awards
Manufacturing Awards: Neles’ Valve Technology Center cultivates new talent
Photo | Courtesy of PROCESS COOLING SYSTEMS
John Kennedy, the manager of the Valve Technology Center at Neles in Shrewsbury
By Grant Welker
Many companies might begin looking to pursue new talent for their workforce when prospective employees are graduating from college. Valve manufacturer Neles starts far earlier, through a long-time partnership with Worcester Technical High School and other local schools.
Neles will bring students into its Shrewsbury facility to give them a sense of what they do and to see if they’re interested in the work.
“Once they see what’s happening, you can see some lights go off in their heads,” said John Kennedy, the manager of Neles’ Valve Technology Center, which includes its research and development lab. “Like, ‘This isn’t what I thought it was.’”
Neles, part of a Finnish company, was known as Metso for years until the Neles branch of the company was split off from Outotec, a firm servicing the natural resources industry. It has operated locally since 1956 and has survived and grown through a range of ties with workforce and educational partners, including the Worcester Public Schools, Worcester Polytechnic Institute and MassHire, the state’s workforce development and employment office.
Through those connections, Neles gets a steady pipeline of students interested in the field. Kennedy serves on the advisory board for Worcester Tech and has advocated for integrating professional experiences into the high school curriculum. Its partnerships extend to other Worcester public high schools, too, which can give students similar workforce experiences as those at Worcester Tech.
Neles doesn’t only reach out to students early. It also gives them a co-op experience during their senior years in high school, with three-fourths of them eventually staying on as full-time employees. Neles helps students pay for college, often for engineering courses at Quinsigamond Community College in Worcester.
“They get an education almost completely paid for, and we get the benefits of them being here,” Kennedy said.
Manufacturing can sometimes get a bad reputation, that it’s dirty work, Kennedy said. But it’s rarely like that today, as it’s more likely to involve math skills for exact customer requirements than require someone to get their hands dirty. Neles has seen past a stereotype that younger workers are often looking to move on to another job after just a few years.
“Some were 17 when they started. And now they’re in their 30s,” Kennedy said. “What does that tell you?”
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