June 24, 2025 Many people develop their love for hands-on work during their formative childhood years. Jake Nichols is no exception. “My dad worked for Caterpillar doing machine repair,” Nichols said. “It was just a natural thing for me to help him out around the house, learning to fix cars and winterize boats. I thought I could use those skills in a career, so I started working for an automotive company.” Jake quickly learned that this wasn’t exactly the right fit. “I didn’t like doing the same thing every day,” Nichols said. “So I found another job at a company called NN Incorporated. They gave me the chance to earn my journeyman’s certificate. I would work four days, and then attend class on day five. The classroom portion of that work was done at GRCC.” The further education and job change definitely had an impact. “At NN, I felt like I had a purpose and a place. I could be creative and make improvements,” Nichols said. Jake applied the 30 credits of his training that articulated toward a degree, and added general education courses, to complete his A.A.A.S. in Tooling and Manufacturing. He moved on to a new opportunity as production supervisor for another manufacturer. All of these experiences gradually opened more new doors for him. “I found out about an opportunity to teach the same journeyman’s program that I had taken at GRCC,” Nichols said. “I made the leap to education, so now I teach that class along with others as adjunct faculty.”   After his first year of teaching, Jake says it’s awesome to work with students. “These are people who want to learn,” Nichols said. “They get information and run with it. They’re dedicated and focused, which makes the environment a lot less stressful. The students make it great.” Jake also loves the variety and flexibility of his teaching schedule. “I’m teaching five courses, and also doing some hands-on classes for students in the English Learner program. I’ve even taught a course with a Spanish interpreter! I usually teach in the evening, which frees up my time during the day.” He’s making good use of that time as he works to complete his bachelor’s degree in organizational management and leadership through Purdue Global. “I’m happy doing this work,” Nichols said. “Teaching is a breath of fresh air.”  Learn more about the Tooling and Manufacturing A.A.A.S. at GRCC .

June 19, 2025 Tooling Systems Group (TSG) has a voracious appetite for apprentices who can learn hands-on skills in die design and building, machining, manufacturing automation and more. And of their 450 employees in West Michigan, approximately two-thirds have graduated from GRCC. Jim Grotenrath is a good example. “I started my tooling career ‘on the floor,’” said Grotenrath. “I worked my way up through the organization, and took the owner up on an opportunity to be an equity partner in a related business.” Now Jim is president of the company. He’s also a proud GRCC graduate. In fact, Jim is one of almost 300 employees —including 8 of 10 presidents — who have studied at GRCC. “GRCC plays a huge role in our hiring and staffing,” said Lindsey Bosch, Vice President of Legal and Human Resources. “We have 10 apprenticeship programs registered with the Department of Labor. We tried other avenues but find we get the best, most consistent results with GRCC. Their graduates are head and shoulders above others.” An apprenticeship comprises approximately 8,000 hours of on-the-job training, plus approximately 600 classroom hours. Sam Dougherty followed this demanding path to earn his journeyman die maker certification through TSG and GRCC. “I started on the floor right after high school,” Dougherty said. “I got a little bored with doing the same thing day after day. When I was offered the opportunity to participate in the apprenticeship program, I jumped at the chance.”   Sam says GRCC played a big role in helping him stay on track. “You work all day, and then take courses at night” Dougherty said. “That’s a lot to handle, and it takes four years. The teachers are willing to work with you, which is really helpful. I’m not a lecture-style learner, so I loved the hands-on work and variety.” TSG places a high value on employees like Sam. “We are always looking for good candidates for our apprenticeship programs,” Bosch said. “After someone has worked for us for about 6-12 months and demonstrated their work ethic, we often approach them, like we did Sam, to gauge their interest. If they commit to the education, we pay for it, provided they maintain a B- GPA or above. They also earn regular raises during their apprenticeship. Our business requires people with these skills, so we invest to find, train and retain them.” Jim points out that manufacturing, especially in tool and die, offers incredible variety and opportunity. “Manufacturing has changed so much,” Grotenrath said. “There’s a lot more automation and mental work. It’s not all just the physical labor you may envision in a factory. Our various companies hire die makers, quality engineers, die designers, operations managers, electricians, robot programmers and much more. These are great paying jobs with lots of opportunity. We just need to bring people up and train them to do the work.” TSG designs and builds metal stamping dies that are used to manufacture parts for automotive, aerospace and many other industries. A stamping die is a bit like a big cookie cutter. As sheet metal runs through a machine, a hydraulic press exerts force on the die to stamp (or shape) the metal with various bends, holes and other design elements. Sam loves the hands-on aspect of the work. “I’m doing something different every day,” Dougherty said. “Die design is complicated. You have to understand the customer’s manufacturing system. You have to be able to envision the outcome in 3D. It’s like a big puzzle you have to figure out.” GRCC professor Jeff Stuecken worked in manufacturing for his entire career. In his role now as an educator, he thinks of GRCC as a partner to industry. “We’re preparing students for careers,” Stuecken said. “I could tell that Sam was going to be a leader and I loved watching him grow.  He’s one more person we’ve prepared for a career. Industry needs us and we need industry. The relationship with TSG has made our program even better.” The partnership is a two-way street. For example, both TSG and GRCC invested in sample dies that would help students gain more hands-on experience. “Sam designed a simple die that would stamp fishing lures,” Stuecken said. “TSG then built two copies of that die. They paid for one and kept it at their facility for training. GRCC paid a small fraction of the actual cost for the other, and Sam helped install it in our automation lab. Now our students can see how a running die stamp actually works.” Sam points out that GRCC is an excellent place to learn hands-on career skills. “I learned to run grinders, saws, precision measuring tools and much more at GRCC,” Dougherty said. “Everything I did at GRCC, I now do here. The professors know what they are doing. I literally spent four hours at school every day practicing what I did in the shop. And this is like any other skill. The more you do it, the better you become, until finally you are a master.” Learn more about Mechanical Design at GRCC.