Titan & community,
I’ve been following for about a year now and have been inspired by the work done and the trials endured. The backbone of it all for me is the level of expertise that is brought to the machining field here and the strong values in American manufacturing and education. I have a couple things going on: first, I have a job to develop a CNC curriculum for New York City, driven by a $5m policy by Bill de Blasio, to provide paid training to NYC residents and guarantee local job placement; and second, I operate in Brooklyn, NY as a freelance metalworker, trying to hit a very new wave with a City sponsored $2.5m semi-professional makerspace and pull-in a $132.5k job. I respect the advice given, so I thought I’d reach out to see if there is any for my situation.
I’ve been in the metalwork industry for about 17 years now, started in HS with a teacher that became a mentor – a Vietnam vet and engineer, called us all troglodytes. I was lucky, our school provided a CAD program where I learned how to design, model and draft industrial projects like vises and tap handles – we had competitions where our designs were judged by local manufacturing companies, it was a lot of fun. A year before I graduated, my mentor ended up getting a new job at a community college to provide a CNC machining program, so I followed him to college after HS and learned the trade over two years. Starting my professional career, I worked in a handful of custom job shops, working my way up to supervisor and lead machinist at a couple; as well as taking on project management and design development roles at a Brooklyn architectural metalwork firm. Then fast forwarding to several years ago, I started my industrial freelancing business, Silicon Carbon, offering: development, management, fabrication and education – as the sole operator of my company I can provide an array of value propositions. I’ve been testing what I can get into since then.
One of the opportunities I’ve been privileged to get is to build NYC’s Department of Small Business Service’s new ApprenticeNYC program. It started last year after Mayor Bill de Blasio signed a $5m policy to kick-start NYC manufacturing and create skilled labor for the NYC’s skill’s gap. There have been a couple pilots at this point with great feedback, but the City is keen on finding a finalized curriculum. The scope of the program is larger than learning how to operate a CNC, although that is the main focus. It also assumes zero experience and operates full-time for ten weeks, the Fundamentals of CNC book and video material has been very helpful. Landing on ground, the program has some of its own material but doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel, so is there a way we can reference Titans of CNC Academy and the material without stepping toes?
Another opportunity that I have is a manufacturing job in residential renovation, developing and fabricating custom cabinetry and appliance handles for the kitchens – it’s a cool interdisciplinary job that I have planned on using the City’s Futureworks Makerspace, it’s medium-sized ringing in at $132.5k. But it gets tragic, after being involved in this project for two years and being told I was their guy, last week at the 11th hour the owners decided to investigate Chinese manufacturing solutions and have scrambled the whole equation. I really want to job, I know my price out-competes any local manufacturer, showing the potential of makerspaces as a viable solution for small-business startup, but the owners have suggested as a counter-offer that I operate as a project manager and quality control guy while they contract a Chinese manufacturer. They want to save a dime. Part of my gets it, now that we are a global economy and China is a real competitor they must be recognized, but in my opinion the owners are making a big mistake when it comes to service and quality. This is why I’m reaching out to you, because I’m a proud US, blood-sweat-and-tears metalworker and I want to see manufacturing here. But I also see this as an opportunity to see the belly of the beast and endeavor as a researcher so I can see the manufacturing market at a higher level. I’m really torn. Any advice?
Thank you! I look forward to the future of CNC in America! 