Last year the defense industry giant, whose Integrated Defense Systems division is based out of Portsmouth, R.I., partnered with CCRI to run a 12-week Electronic Assembly training program for 12 students. Unlike traditional training programs geared toward existing employees, the training program served potential employees, in the hopes of giving them the skills to make them desirable applicants for Raytheon production jobs. To qualify for the program, students had to test at ninth-grade math and reading levels. And to make the program attractive to a public who would not be guaranteed jobs at its completion, Raytheon subsidized a substantial part of the tuition costs.

When the first class, held at Portsmouth High School, concluded in July of last year, Raytheon was so pleased with the graduates skill sets that the company hired all of them as production specialists, with starting salaries of $25,000 a year and benefits.

Word of this unique career pathway spread quickly through the East Bay community. By the time they offered a second session in August, CCRI had a lengthy student wait list to contend with. And when those graduates completed the program in October, Raytheon again hired all 12.

Just last month, the college began yet another session of the Electronic Assembly Program, from which Raytheon and CCRI expect comparable results. Raytheon Operations Manager Stephen Fontes marvels, “Our collaboration with CCRI has been nothing short of outstanding.”

Fontes has worked closely with the CCRI Division for Lifelong Learning to design and implement this customized program, which includes training in print reading, finish fabrication, mechanical construction and assembly, wire harness building and work readiness skills.

The program’s success is also sweet for CCRI Program Coordinator Joanne Galliano, who has shepherded the Raytheon collaboration from idea to action. She adds, “I just went out to Raytheon a couple of weeks ago, and I was waving hello to all my graduates.”