WIDE RANGE OF
OPTIONS
EMPLOYERS
PHOTOGRAPHY BY TOM HAGERTY
No matter their size or product line, manufacturers
big and small share a common dilemma: As they
grow, and as technology evolves, how do they keep
their employees’ skills up to date?
Manufacturers here in Polk County have found
the solution within Polk State Corporate College’s
Advanced Manufacturing Institute.
Housed at Polk’s newest location, the Polk State
Clear Springs Advanced Technology Center,
310 Technology Drive in Bartow, the Advanced
Manufacturing Institute is, essentially, a one-stop
shop for manufacturers’ training needs.
From quick skills updates, to long-term
apprenticeships, to courses in specific processes and
equipment, the Advanced Manufacturing Institute
has it all. And if it doesn’t have it, it will get it.
“We specialize in offering open-enrollment,
non-credit, manufacturing-based training to
employers and their incumbent workforce, as well
8 | FORUM FOR BUSINESS
as individuals looking to make themselves more
appealing to potential employers,” said Wyatt Dube,
one of the coordinators of the Institute. “But in
addition to the institute’s open-enrollment offerings,
AMI prides itself on the ability to deliver customized
training solutions that enhance workforce skills in
the region.”
The Advanced Manufacturing Institute’s openenrollment offerings include courses in mechanical
and electrical maintenance, process control/
automation, and industrial instrumentation.
Polk’s industrial instrumentation offerings include
courses in instrumentation fundamentals, level
and flow measurement, pressure and temperature
calibration, and liquid analysis techniques. All
of the institute’s instrumentation courses utilize
the College’s state-of-the-art, $1.4 million process
training unit (PTU).
“People can’t believe it when they see it,” said Polk
State Corporate College Director Rob Clancey. “Any
industry that processes liquid uses this exact same
equipment, and we have it right here, available for
training purposes. We’re getting employers from
all over the state— from theme parks to utility
companies — coming here to utilize this incredible
resource.”
Also available as open-enrollment training options,
Polk’s process control/automation offerings allow
students to gain hands-on experience with the most
current programmable logic controller software
available.
Available process control and automation courses
include all of the ControlLogix courses necessary to
sit for the corresponding Maintainers, Programmers
or Drives certificate assessment test.
On both the instrumentation and automation
sides, the Advanced Manufacturing Institute offers
students an edge beyond equipment; instructors