HOPE Springs Eternal in Detroit

“We want to help as many people as we can, as much as we can, for as long as we can.” This is the guiding principle behind the Detroit-based nonprofit Focus: HOPE, as articulated by Kevin Green, manager of the organization’s Machinist Training Institute.

Co-founded by Father William Cunningham, a Catholic priest, and Eleanor Josaitis in 1968—“as a response to the social rebellions of the summer of ’67,” Green says—Focus: HOPE initially provided a food-assistance program for the local community. In 1981, it opened the Machinist Training Institute “to give underrepresented populations, primarily women and people of color, chances at careers in advanced manufacturing. Our first cohorts broke race and gender barriers throughout Southeast Michigan,” Green adds, “and we continue to break those barriers.”

The institute, which occupies a 56,000-sq-ft (5,203-sq-m) facility on Oakman Boulevard, enrolls about 200 students each year in its Industrial Manufacturing Training Pathways registered “pre-apprenticeship program.” Tuition is free for the 15-week, 300-hour course, with an attendance-based weekly stipend given for food, gas and other basic expenses. The students’ average age is 27, as many of them are embarking on “second-chance” careers, Green notes.

Evolving the Program

“We’re machinists here—that’s who we are,” Green beams with pride. CNC machining was the first curriculum offered at the institute—and it’s still going strong. But around 2018, Green and his team recognized that the manufacturing industry was looking for more versatile workers, what it characterizes as “multitalented or multiskilled technicians.” Accordingly, the organization evolved its offerings to include welding, robotics and forklift operation.

COVID-19 brought about another major change: a shift to a hybrid-learning model. Green, who took the reins of the institute just two weeks into the pandemic, explains, “We learned some valuable lessons then. Although it’s difficult to teach machining and welding remotely, other things, like mathematics and blueprint reading, work great remotely.” In addition, a hybrid scenario helps reduce some of the common barriers facing participants, such as transportation and childcare.

Today, students come to campus for hands-on training two days a week and work from home on more foundational knowledge three days a week. They also have access to supplemental services, such as a closet stocked with work clothes, safety boots and even interview attire.

Credentialed Curriculum

Workforce-training programs often struggle with getting their students properly credentialed, Green says, noting that credentialing is vital to securing the public and private funding such programs rely on.

The Machinist Training Institute addressed this issue by turning to Tooling U-SME and the nonprofit organization’s extensive online-learning platform. “Tooling U-SME is the predominant curriculum in our training program. We use it for everything,” Green says. “And it has completely solved the credentialing piece for Focus: HOPE because of how many credentials there are available in it.”

Every student who comes through the institute receives a Tooling U-SME subscription, Green notes, and they take SME’s Certified Manufacturing Associate exam right before they graduate. The key, however, is that all courses are still instructor-led, he says. “We go through Tooling U-SME classes as a group with an instructor leading and answering questions. I really do think that’s the reason why we’re having great success.”

The institute currently employs 20 instructors, about half full-time and half on a contract basis. With decades of experience, these industry veterans are a “tough group to please” when it comes to curriculum, Green says with a laugh. “And they have veto power. But when I brought them Tooling U, they immediately fell in love with it. They embrace it as their own, which speaks to the strength of the platform.”

The Secret Sauce

Technical skills are only half of the equation. Green points out that “soft skills,” such as interviewing techniques, working well with others and resolving conflicts, are equally important. “Anybody can teach you differential equations, but this is our strong suit, our secret sauce,” he says. “It’s what sets us apart from our competitors. We call it the psychology of success.”

Focus: HOPE prioritizes these critical social and emotional skills by providing students with “Customer Service” certification through the International Business Training Association. It also fosters responsibility and accountability by closely monitoring attendance and having a time clock on campus to simulate a professional work environment.

“This is as much a screening program as it is a training program,” Green asserts. “What we tell our employer partners is that not only from a technical point of view but from a personal point of view, you will see a difference with our graduates.”

An Industry Partnership

Among Focus: HOPE’s many industry partners is American Axle & Manufacturing Inc. (AAM), a global Tier 1 automotive and mobility supplier headquartered in Detroit, with eight facilities in the metro area. AAM designs, engineers and manufactures driveline and metal-forming technologies to support electric, hybrid and internal-combustion vehicles.

AAM has a long history with Focus: HOPE, including volunteering to help with food-distribution efforts, assisting the organization in securing grants and, last but not least, hiring graduates of the Machinist Training Institute.

“The institute lines up very well with what’s required of an entry-level operator in most of our facilities,” says Angela Ketelhut, senior manager of human resources for AAM’s Metal Forming business unit. “Their graduates understand safety, CNC machining, forklift operation—all the important basics of what they’re going to be walking into on a manufacturing floor.”

AAM also seeks those aforementioned soft skills:

• “Can you be here on time?”
• “Are you open to learning?”
• “Are you going to show up every day?”

And it finds that level of personal commitment in institute grads, Ketelhut notes. She and others from AAM’s facilities regularly attend Focus: HOPE’s job fairs to seek fresh recruits.

The relationship goes both ways, as Focus: HOPE is helping AAM create its own in-house apprenticeship programs within government guidelines. “We love the partnership we have,” Ketelhut adds. “Focus: HOPE supports us as much as we support them.”

Workforce Wins

In measuring success, 80% is the magic number for the Machinist Training Institute. “Our goal is that 80% of people who come into the program will finish,” Green explains. “Of those who finish, 80% will go into the workforce. Of those, 80% will sustain their employment beyond a year.”

Focus: HOPE hosts a job fair every quarter, and many students have a choice of multiple job offers before they even graduate. “We have great brand recognition, and we do a great job in getting people work,” Green says, noting that about 26,000 students have passed through the program since 1981, finding “family-sustaining” careers with manufacturers across Southeast Michigan. “It’s hard to walk into a local manufacturing facility these days without seeing Focus: HOPE employees.”

The organization has received widespread recognition for its workforce-development initiatives, including from the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, which bestowed its Race to Talent with Registered Apprenticeship Champion Award on Focus: HOPE in 2024. In addition, the state of Michigan recently commissioned a case study to explore the organization’s success with industry partnerships, according to Green.

With Focus: HOPE now in its 57th year and the Machinist Training Institute in its 44th, “we think our program is a model to the nation,” Green reflects. That’s a legacy for which Detroit and the entire state can be proud.

ACHIEVING HOPE

Focus: HOPE launched its Machinist Training Institute in 1981. The goal is for 80% of students entering the program to finish it.

Founded: 1968

Location: Detroit

Students: 200 per year

Average Age: 27

Pre-apprenticeship Program: 15-week, 300-hour course

Cost: FREE