Dovetail Components and Cressvale Technical and Community College have selected 12 people for a new maintenance apprenticeship that divides each week between paid plant work and technical classes.
The two-year program begins March 9 at Dovetail’s Merehaven plant. Apprentices will rotate through preventive maintenance, electrical systems, machining support, safety, and equipment documentation. Classroom work will count toward a technical certificate from the college.
Plant manager Oran Pike said the company has struggled to fill maintenance openings that require both mechanical judgment and familiarity with modern controls. Dovetail currently brings in contractors for some scheduled work and wants a larger in-house crew.
“A machine rarely fails in only one category,” Pike said. “We need people who can read the manual, listen to what the line is doing, and know when to stop and ask for help.”
The college will send instructors to the plant for two lab sessions each month. Other classes will meet at its Brackenmill campus. Apprentices will be paid by Dovetail and will not owe tuition for the courses included in the program, according to the agreement announced Tuesday.
Applicants were required to have a high-school diploma or equivalent and complete a basic mechanical assessment. The selected group includes recent graduates, workers moving from production roles, and adults returning to technical training. The partners did not release individual names before orientation.
The cohort is outside District 2, but college president Mara Keene said applicants came from several parts of the county. Neither the college nor Dovetail guaranteed a permanent position. Apprentices who complete the rotations will be eligible to apply for open maintenance jobs under the company’s usual hiring process.
The partners plan to review attendance, course completion, safety performance, and retention before deciding whether to start another cohort next year.
Correction, Feb. 26: A photo caption in the first edition said the cohort included 10 apprentices. The announcement and article correctly listed 12. The caption was replaced.