September 30, 2008 – Vermont Composites, Inc. (VCI) of Bennington, Vermont is pleased to announce that they have established their own in-house Training Center. In 2008 Vermont Composites’ management team made a commitment to enhance the skills of all of their team members. To accomplish that objective, the leadership team at VCI built and staffed a new training center at their Performance Drive location. “VCI employees are on track to complete 16,000 hours of training this year”, said Mike Tierney, Vermont Composite’s new Manager for Lean and Training Programs, “That’s an average of almost 80 hours of training for each of the 220 employees who work in Bennington”. Mike comes to VCI after completing a career in the United States Army where he served in various leadership and training positions including assignments at the U.S. Army Armor School, 10th Mountain Division and the United States Military Academy at West Point. Mike’s commitment to establishing “World Class” training programs was recognized in 2004 when he received The Continuing Education Association of New York’s Award for having the “Best Program” for a Business or Organization in the State of New York.
A large portion of VCI’s education effort is being funded by the State of Vermont’s ‘Training Program’ sponsored by the Department of Economic Development. Under this initiative, VCI was able to secure a grant in the amount of $127,000 that has subsidized several of their employee training programs. These programs include: training in the use of advanced computer aided design software, leadership and Lean Manufacturing. VCI’s training focus is on making sure that current and future employees at VCI have the skills necessary to allow Vermont Composites to remain competitive in today’s global market.
Vermont Composites, Inc. designs and fabricates advanced carbon fiber composite structures for the aerospace, medical and industrial markets. The company is ISO 9001:2000 and AS 9100 certified and is Nadcap approved. VCI services a broad range of well known multi-national customers. Manufacturing processes include layup, autoclave, resin transfer molding and press cure, CNC routing and machining, finishing and assembly. Support functions include design, analysis, tooling design and testing.
Products include: components for the aerospace and aircraft industries such as fairings, radomes, electronic enclosures, and other composite structures used in aircraft, launch vehicles, and spacecraft. They make medical imaging tables and other composites structures used in diagnostic imaging and therapeutic applications. Some of their imaging components are also used in security screening systems applications. In addition, they make a variety of composites components for the industrial market. For further information, contact Peg Baratto, peg.baratto@vtcomposites.com.