Manufacturing Company Connects With NMCC Students

Aroostook County - The ultimate reward for any college student is to make a connection with a company and find a quality job in their industry of choice. 

Northern Maine Community College not only provides an exceptional education, NM maintains relationships with a variety of businesses and arranges for personal connections with students and companies who offer intern opportunities and full-time employment.  One such company, GE Power & Water who operates a CNC manufacturing facility in Bangor, offered an internship this past summer to three students in the Precision Machining program.

“We work hard to identify the businesses that directly correlate with the programs we offer here at the College,” said Dean Duplessis, precision machining instructor.  “GE Bangor is a multi-million dollar company that produces high-quality products on state-of-the-art equipment for clients around the world.  We are fortunate that GE recognizes the quality of our program and directly seeks out our students.”

The internships are part of the GE Bangor Machinist Internship Program. Once a student successfully completes the internship program, he or she will be eligible for 100% tuition reimbursement for their 2nd year of NMCC’s Precision Machining program.  Furthermore, students in the Precision Machining program who have successfully completed the internship program, as well as their 2nd year of the Precision Machining program, will be eligible for a full-time, direct-hire machinist position with GE Bangor upon graduation.

Students Brett Stratton, Blaine Cooper and Matt Martin completed their internships at GE Bangor at the end of August.

“We like NM because students work on live jobs including setting up programs and installing software,” said John Kenney, Plant Manager at GE Bangor. “All that training is exactly what you have to do in our shop, so it makes for a very smooth transition.  The internship program is a good training bridge for what they see in the classroom to what they see on our shop floor.”

In late October, Kenney along with Matt Thomas, Airfoil Shop Manager and Jill Smith, HR Manager at GE Bangor, toured NMCC’s precision machining shop and met with the freshmen in the Precision Machining program.  Students were given the opportunity to ask questions about the company including details about the internship program, potential employment and continuing education opportunities within the company. GE plans to offer the internship program again this year and will give the freshman students a tour of the facility in February.

“We were very pleased with all three students and look forward to having them join our team upon graduation in May,” said Smith.  “The partnership we have with NMCC and the connections made with highly-trained students will ensure we continue to have the best employees in the industry for years to come.”