For Noah Kleckner, a senior at Burrell High School who completed a pre-apprenticeship program at school, safety protocols for personal protection are huge.

“You don’t want metal shavings in your eye,” he said.

Kleckner, 19, of Lower Burrell earned seven state certifications in safety, quality, manufacturing and maintenance in Burrell’s Industrial Manufacturing Technician Pre-Apprenticeship Program.

It is one of only a half-dozen such programs in Southwestern Pennsylvania, said Scott Dietz, director of workforce initiatives at Catalyst Connection in Pittsburgh. It’s a nonprofit that provides consulting and training services to small manufacturers in the region. He also works with school districts to help students start training.

The pre-apprenticeship and its certifications set Kleckner up for an internship at MetPlas Inc. in Harrison last summer before his senior year.

“When I sat down with MetPlas and presented my certifications, it showed that I was a hard worker dedicated to learning new things,” he said.

Additionally, with the certifications, he skipped potential unpaid training.

Kleckner was not in Burrell’s vo-tech program. He took the pre-apprenticeship course that’s used nationwide at the high school’s MakerSpace.

“I know I want to do engineering,” he said. “That is why I took the pre-apprenticeship: to get a leg up for internships.”

He plans to work at MetPlas again this summer before heading to college.

“This is not your grandparents’ manufacturing training or job,” Dietz said.

Career opportunities are evolving rapidly and becoming highly technical in emergent technologies, he said.

“It’s a place where you can make a big difference in the world.”

Manufacturing jobs can start as low as $16 to $17 an hour with no experience, Dietz said. But some local companies are offering starting wages of $60,000 to $70,000, he said, “but that depends on the skill level, knowledge, the company, the industry and other factors.”

About 93% of the workers who complete apprenticeships nationally in various industries earn an average starting salary of $77,000, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Students can save money on education decisions by learning and working in a manufacturing space, said Shaun Reddick, Burrell’s career coach and MakerSpace facilitator. “If you take a pre-apprenticeship course and realize you don’t like it, you’ve just saved $120,000 for college,” he said.

Burrell took on the program when Reddick learned that Catalyst Connection was looking for schools willing to run a pilot program about three years ago.

“I’m looking for any opportunity I can get for the kids and we jumped in on it,” he said.

Pre-apprenticeships are helpful in several ways, Reddick said.

“It’s an opportunity for people who don’t have a career path and are looking for one,” he said. “It’s a way to get them in a more technical space.”

The program helps round out pre-engineering students, giving them a background in safety, quality and the manufacturing floor before they think about designing, Reddick said.

Students who want to enter an apprenticeship program will need pre-apprenticeship certifications, Dietz said. When a student starts the process in high school, “it gives them accelerated pathways. The knowledge is broad-based, and it’s valuable for students going directly to college or to work,” he said.

Catalyst Connection invited Tara Loew, director of the state’s Apprenticeship and Training Office, to visit Burrell last month to check out its program along with a local industry partner J.V. Manufacturing of Harrison.

Burrell’s program helps J.V. Manufacturing get more qualified students in the business, said Melissa Vecchi, company vice president. Part of the challenge is “wiping away the old stigma of the blue-collar reputation with no career,” she said.

J.V. Manufacturing’s work contributes to the community, and it has an apprenticeship program and tuition reimbursement.

“Apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeships are a hot topic,” Dietz said.

State high school graduation requirements have changed and now recognize state industry certifications as part of the requirements, he said.

Industry wants the programs in high school because there is a talent shortage, Dietz said.

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