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Students and adults stream through Tri Star on Thursday morning to learn about about employment opportunities at the annual spring job fair.
CELINA - Several area employers have come to rely on Tri Star to meet their workforce needs.
About 50 Tri Star graduates on Thursday afternoon signed "commitment" letters with local companies in the same ballyhooed manner in which student-athletes pledge themselves to a college.
Most of the signings took place during the Tri Star Spring Job Fair, with a smattering occurring at local businesses, according to Tri Star Director Tim Buschur.
St. Henry Tile Company President Nate Subler was beaming as Tri Star students Jacob Lefeld, Zach Wenning and Haden Woods, all of St. Henry, inked their names to paper.
"We are getting shored up decently now," Subler said about St. Henry Tile Company's workforce. "We struggled for a long time, but this group coming in here is filling a lot of spots in for us."
For Jacob Lefeld and Haden Woods, the moment was a family affair. Standing proudly behind them were their fathers, whom the young men will call co-workers at St. Henry Tile Company.
Haden Woods's father, Ted Woods, is a manager at St. Henry Tile Company.
"He has good knowledge about stuff, teaches me things at work and at home," Haden Woods said about working with his father.
Ted Woods, seemingly taken aback by the candid remark, said he's very happy to share the same workplace as his son.
"I think it's great. I just enjoy working with him, alongside of him, teaching him things … and he's teaching me things, also," he said.
Jacob Lefeld's older brother, Aaron Lefeld, a fellow Tri Star graduate, is a precast foreman and his father, Darin Lefeld, a facilities manager at St. Henry Tile Company.
"Kind of watch him grow and learn the ropes," Darin Lefeld said.
Subler said the company has targeted Tri Star grads for the last few years.
"They're all hands-on," he said. "They learn so much stuff here. You really see how quickly they get to the point of being able to apply what they learn here. They aren't afraid to dive in when some other kids might be more timid."
A majority of Tri Star seniors have locked in career-establishing positions with businesses ahead of graduation.
Joe Rose intentionally seeks out Tri Star graduates to fill the ranks at Rose Construction & Electric Inc. in Coldwater. He sat next to Andrew Jones of Coldwater, who's worked part-time for the company for the last two school years.
"He's got a lot of the soft skills that we're looking for to get started and then we can take him and expand on those," Rose said of Jones, who was enrolled in Tri Star's construction program.
Jones said he learned the basics at Tri Star but took on more detailed projects at Rose Construction.
"I went through it many years ago. I graduated in 1990 and went through the program myself," Rose said about Tri Star. "I've been on the board for almost 20 years, too, try to be a big part of the construction program."
Dave Penno, a diagnostic specialist for Truland Equipment, watched as Tri Star agricultural industrial technology program graduate Austin Uhrick of Celina put pen to paper.
"We come in here and we actually teach a couple classes in here," Penno said. "Very good, hardworking students. With the education they get here, they can go right into work and usually do a really decent job for us."
Wyatt Greenwood, a Tri Star precision machining program graduate from Maria Stein, knew early on what he wanted to do with his life after high school.
He signed a commitment letter with Chickasaw Machine & Tool Inc. where he has worked for the past three years and will begin his career as a CNC machine operator.
"I was at shop class at school and our shop teacher actually recommended me to them," Greenwood said. "I knew I always wanted to be in shop, but I just try new things and I kind of found something I liked and stuck with it."
Matt Ronnebaum, a shop foreman at Chickasaw Machine & Tool, appreciates Greenwood's "eagerness to learn and attention to what everyone is doing in the shop."
Tri Star instills in its students a solid foundation that allows them to grow well at the machine and tool shop, Ronnebaum said.
Behind booths were representatives of manufacturers and other businesses, big and small.
The morning evoked feelings of great pride for Tri Star instructors and officials such as assistant director Brian Stetler.
"You see all the efforts and all the hard work coming out to play, so the kids are getting amazing jobs with our amazing companies," Stetler said. "We're really proud of them, and it's great to highlight both the students and the companies."
Tri Star complex also held its annual spring job fair where students and adults learned about employment opportunities at 57 companies, according to Marcia Helentjaris, Tri Star's adult education and career development coordinator.
"Now they're getting used to this being twice a year, so they plan for it," she about Tri Star job fairs held in the fall and spring each year. "I do think that many of the companies wouldn't come back if they weren't finding workers, and they're hiring everybody."
Helentjaris, too, looked on with satisfaction at the students launching their careers by signing on with area employers.
"Some of these kids are also going to college and working for the company so you have that combination as well. I think it makes the companies feel good that they can help out like that and it makes it seem important - and it is important," she said. "That's two years of training those companies don't have to do. They will take them, mold them to what they need at their company."
