NICC graduate advances skills during an economic downturn
Thursday, June 11, 2020
Parker completed the Engineering Technology program at Northeast Iowa Community College in May and had already secured full-time employment at the Elkader-based company upon graduation.
With a plan to make himself recession-proof in the midst of an economic downturn, Parker Klingman jumped at the chance to develop new skills. When an opportunity to participate in an eight-week Engineering Coop position at Mobile Track Solutions (MTS) emerged, Parker was all in.
Parker completed the Engineering Technology program at Northeast Iowa Community College in May and had already secured full-time employment at the Elkader-based company upon graduation.
“I work in the Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machinist department at Mobile Track Solutions, and they value the training I received at NICC. They’re impressed with what the two-year Engineering Technology program can yield in a real-world environment,” Parker explained.
The COVID-19 pandemic impacted Parker’s hands-on training at the College about halfway through the spring semester. Fortunately, MTS wasn’t greatly impacted by widespread closures, he said.
“We have taken the precautions to remain open and are operating at almost a normal level. I’m thankful for that,” he said.
Tasha Henkes, MTS human resources manager, said that Parker is the first employee to have onboarded at the company after a period of “earn and learn” training. While Parker completed his NICC program, he worked part-time at the company.
“Parker was one of the first people we offered a summer internship in 2019. He approached as and we decided to try it. We offered him an Engineering Coop position, developed in part through a collaboration with Iowa State University,” Tasha said.
The company has utilized the 260E Iowa New Jobs Training program administered by the College to enhance the skills of their employees. These funds helped contribute to Parker’s training as well.
“The 260E program is awesome. We’ve been able to enhance our job skills training with our existing workforce and new hires. In 2019 alone we were able to accomplish further development of existing employees, whether it is a staff accountant who is now pursuing his Certified Managerial Accounting degree or an associate like Parker, where we want to enhance his CNC skills and our own internal CNC department,” explained Tasha.
The career preparation Parker received at NICC created opportunities, even in difficult economic times for northeast Iowa, and especially for a student committed to his skills development.
“I really liked the hands-on approach of the Engineering Technology program. I learn better hands on and actually doing things, rather than being lectured about it. The job potential from this degree is much wider than an engineering degree from a four-year college or university,” Parker said. “My position at Mobile Track Solutions is a great fit, and I find it very interesting work.”