Comstock Park, MI (WZZM) - Michigan's state unemployment rate of around 9% is actually worse than the national average of 7.2%.
However there is a company in West Michigan that is doing all it can to help its employees survive the economy by training them to be experts in what they do.
Every company, whether large or small is trying to find ways to survive the economy.
In Comstock Park, Commercial Tool and Die went the pro-active route, deciding education was their best defense.
But they also found they could attempt to change perceptions.
By taking a simply glance inside Commercial Tool and Die, it's easy to see there is precision in everything they do.
That precision though does not come easy.
"You're not just a simple minded button pusher," says Chris Katerberg.
Katerberg has been a machinist for eight years and is now considered an expert at what he does; both by his peers and the state.
"You really have to know quite a bit to make (these machines) work," he says.
Commercial Tool employees say they have the only in-house training program certified by the Department of Labor in the Midwest.
"They never have to leave campus to take any of their classes to do any of their certification," says Training Director Ryan Pohl.
Pohl spends all day training every employee, because the apprenticeship program is offered while workers are on the clock.
"It gives me an opportunity to help the guys develop these skills that are really college level skills right here on the shop floor," says Pohl.
Ryan was a teacher in Greenville, but came back to change the perception that the employees are just "factory workers".
"They're meticulous, they're intelligent," says Pohl. "It warms my heart to know that these guys can hold their heads high and go home to their family and be proud of what they do."
But in reality, this training is also good for the company.
Vice President Todd Finley hopes better training will lead to a brighter future.
"We've invested heavily in the latest, greatest high-speed equipment and if our skills development doesn't match the equipment capability, we're short cutting ourselves," says Finley.
And because of Michigan's dim economy everyone at Commercial Tool is grateful for every opportunity towards better precision.
"It's clear that here they're doing something to stay on top of tool and die, you've got to adapt," says Katerberg.
The journeyman Certification requires 8,000 hours of shop floor experience and 576 hours of class time.
Time every single employee says is well worth it.
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