To assist local machine shops in their quest for qualified workers, BMAP and Brevard Community College (BCC) have teamed up to offer a four-year apprenticeship program for budding machinists that includes free tuition and a full-time job for students, while providing the companies with low-cost workers committed to learning the tricks of the trade. First-year apprentices earn 50% of the average salary for journeyman machinists, which is currently approximately $13.35. That percentage increases to 60% for second-year apprentices, 70% in the third year and 85% the fourth.
Just entering its second year, the program attracted two dozen students this year. Fifteen machine shops in Brevard County have signed on as members, and they claim the program fills a very real need. "BCC has machinist classes, but there's not enough depth," says George Allred, plant manager of Crown Simplimatic in Titusville. "If our guys stay for the whole four years, they come back to us in very good shape. It gives me some qualified machinists that I just couldn't get using strictly on-the-job training."
The program has had a rough start because many Brevard machine shops are waiting to see how the program fares. With a four- to six-year payoff, skeptics hesitate to back the fledgling training program. That, proponents say, may change soon. "This was probably a make-or-break year," says Alice Jones, the project coordinator, "and I don't think we'll have much of a problem recruiting people next year." - Ken Ibold
CAPE CANAVERAL - NASA awarded a five-year contract to Lockheed Martin Corp. to consolidate and privatize mission control operations at five NASA centers, including Kennedy Space Center. The deal, worth $1.9 billion, includes an option for a five-year extension worth another $1.54 billion. Under the contract, Lockheed will lead a consortium of nearly 50 companies to manage all the data collection and communications operations that support orbiting satellites and manned space flights.
Space Gateway Support of Herndon, Va., a joint venture led by Northrop Grumman, won a $2.2 billion contract to manage base operations at the Kennedy Space Center, Patrick Air Force Base and Cape Canaveral Air Station. The new venture has cut employment to about 2,500 people, compared to the 2,900 employed by EG&G Florida and Johnson Controls, which previously did the work.
LONGWOOD - Advanced Information Systems Group officials say the company will double employment and move into a new headquarters facility within a year. The computer consulting company now employs about 65 people. The majority are in Longwood and Winter Park, with a total of 15 in satellite offices in Miami Lakes, Jacksonville, Minneapolis and Columbus, Ohio.
ORLANDO Theseus Logic of St. Paul, Minn., is moving its headquarters to Orlando following a $2 million capital infusion by Central Florida Venture Capital. The Theseus management team relocated to Orlando last month, and the company plans to hire some 50 engineers, technicians and support staff within the next few years. Theseus plans to license its computer chip design technology to semiconductor manufacturers, allowing them to create smaller, faster chips.
The Siemens Westinghouse Power Corp. has garnered contracts worth more than $1 billion for 41 generators since June. Siemens designs and coordinates the projects in Orlando using manufacturing plants in other locations. Siemens bought Westinghouse Power Corp. last August and the combined companies employ about 1,700 in Orlando. University of Central Florida students will carry microchip-laden smart cards that will work as both photo ID cards and electronic wallets. The university will use the cards to disburse and collect money from the school's 30,000 students and staff. Huntington National Bank will issue the cards at no cost to the university or students, hoping that students, when they need bank accounts, will go to Huntington.
The Magic Kingdom and Universal Studios are bulldozing bits of their history to make room for new children-oriented attractions. The Magic Kingdom closed Mr. Toad's Wild Ride in favor of a Winnie the Pooh-themed ride. Universal decided to tank the Bates mansion of "Psycho" fame so it could use the space for a Woody Woodpecker ride and a Curious George play area. Both parks say the new attractions will open next year.