'Florida's Best Kept Secret'

A help-wanted sign has been in front of Richard Peck's manufacturing business in Oldsmar for four years despite the economic downturn.

“We can't find enough employees,” says Peck, founder of QTM Inc., which fabricates precision machined metal products for industrial use.

“If they're experienced, we'll hire them in a minute,” he says. “But they don't come through the door very often.”

QTM turns away as much as 15% of incoming business because it doesn't have enough employees to run a third shift, he says. Employees, 30 in all, work two shifts, seven days a week.

Peck says the educational system is to blame for pushing students into career paths that only involve college.

The skilled manufacturing employee shortage is a national issue that seems more pronounced in Florida, he says. Many people don't realize how active manufacturing is in the state.

“The perception is all we have here are beaches and old people,” Peck says. “Because we (manufacturing) are small and don't do a lot of advertising, people don't know it. We are Florida's best kept secret.”

There are roughly 17,000 manufacturers in the state, he says. About 3,000 are in the Tampa Bay area.

To find workers, Peck became creative.

He teamed up with the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg College and Pinellas Technical Education Center.

QTM employs USF mechanical engineering students who have to pay their way through school or who just want manufacturing experience. It also hires engineering majors from St. Pete College. From PTEC, it hires aspiring machinists and welders.

The labor shortage has to be solved, especially since manufacturing jobs are returning to the U.S. from abroad due to quality issues and long shipping times, he says.

Students have to learn that manufacturing is a viable career option, he says. While manufacturing jobs pay about $10 to $12 an hour to start, experienced welders and machinists earn about $60,000 annually.

The Florida Manufacturing Extension Partnership, of which Peck is chairman, is pushing efforts to teach middle schoolers about manufacturing.

The group has taught teachers at the Science Center in St. Petersburg about lean manufacturing principles. In turn, they teach the students. Hillsborough County started a similar program this summer.