The manufacturer, Computer Components Inc. in Northeast Philadelphia, provides electronics-manufacturing services including design and assembly and employs 75.
Here’s how JOIN’s calculations go:
Computer Components spent $25,924 to train employees to read blueprints, to do specialized welding and conduct quality audits. The company also spent $16,075 on salaries for the 25 employees while they were in class and $7,047 in staff time attending meetings with the Southeast Pennsylvania Workforce Development Partnership, which sponsored the training. The company’s total expense: $49,045.
“Without the training, we wouldn’t have had been able to maintain the business,” said Frank Cettina, vice president of operations. “Not only were we able to maintain the business, but we were able to grow it.”
The company attributed 10 percent of a customer’s decision to renew a $3 million multiyear contract to improved customer service from his newly trained employees.
That $300,000 in revenue translates to $25,500 in profit. Assuming growth of 3 percent, that’s $135,383 over five years, the report said.
The training in welding was a 25 percent factor in the company’s decision to invest in a $130,000 robotics welding machine. Prorating the return expected on the $130,000 investment over five years, Cettina attributed $93,175 to the training.
“There’s a learning curve. We were able to utilize JOIN training dollars to train employees on that machine,” bringing in more business, Cettina said.
The partnership program meant, the company said, that three new employees were hired and eight retained. Reduced turnover and hiring costs will equal $41,701, the report said.
One squishy number: The value of improved brand recognition, somehow calculated to be $11,282.
The forecast five-year return on the company’s $49,045 was $281,541. To allow for error and fuzziness, the JOIN research team discounted the return by 5 percent per year, compounded, to $199,764.
The company’s investment was augmented by about $23,000 for training and strategic-development workshops paid for by foundation and tax dollars through JOIN and the Southeast Pennsylvania partnership, a quasi-public organization. That public investment yielded $149,000 in tax revenue, plus $72,000 saved in unemployment benefits, food stamps, and welfare, according to the report.
Adam Parker, 41, an electromechanical assembler from Feasterville, joined the company two years ago after being laid off for a year. In November, he received a 75-cent-an-hour raise. He attributes 40 cents of that to his increased skills through the blueprint and auditing training he received. In a year, that training will add $832 to his annual pay, plus make him more attractive on the job market.
“The more I can do, the more valuable I am to the company,” he said.
The report indicates that Cettina and his fellow executives spent $7,047 worth of time at partnership meetings. That’s a lot of stale coffee and doughnuts, but Cettina said it was worthwhile.
For example, he said, if one company developed a training curriculum for a particular skill, the others could share it. They could chip in on an instructor who might travel from plant to plant, reducing costs.
“Part of the partnership is also to make sure that the whole growth of manufacturing is noted,” he said, “that people are saying, ‘There are good jobs in manufacturing.’ ”
Contact Jane M. Von Bergen at 215-854-2769, jvonbergen@phillynews.com, or follow @JaneVonBergen on Twitter. Read her Jobbing blog at www.philly.com/jobbing.
