“Hinds is a good partner and has been with us since day one. Our first maintenance techs came from Hinds through the industrial maintenance program,” said Continental Talent Acquisition Manager Darryl Jenkins, a Hinds alumnus and former employee. “They were the very first persons hired on for production.”
Hinds has what may be a unique apprenticeship program with Continental.
“A high school student in Clinton, Raymond and Vicksburg can dual enroll in electro-mechanical technology with Hinds while they’re in high school. When they graduate high school, they can take those hours and apply to the program. If they’re accepted into the apprenticeship program, they can go to work at Continental. They work as production technician apprentices while they’re finishing up their college with Hinds,” Creel said.
The first year the apprentices work in production on the assembly line. The second year, they work in maintenance, Jenkins said. “The idea is to get them familiar with equipment as an operator and then gradually move them into full maintenance technician,” he said.
None of their coursework or training costs them plus “They are full employees. They’re getting paid. They’re getting benefits,” Bower said.