[PA-NJ Glassblowers] Hot Job: Simon Pearce Begins Apprenticeship Program to Train New Glassblowers

Tony Patti gaffer at glassblower.info
Sun Apr 27 22:31:45 EDT 2014


Hope everybody is enjoying spring.  I thought this article (and awesome
photo) was interesting, and wanted to share it.

 

http://www.vnews.com/home/11629143-95/hot-job-simon-pearce-begins-apprentice
ship-program-to-train-new-glassblowers

 



 

Madeleine Murray of Bradford, Vt., gathers glass from a furnace at the Simon
Pearce company headquarters in Windsor, Vt., 

during the fourth day of an eight-week apprenticeship program on April 22,
2014. 

Murray and nine other participants will learn the basics of making some of
Simon Pearce's signature pieces, 

the first being a simple glass ice cube. (Valley News- Sarah Priestap)

 


Hot Job: Simon Pearce Begins Apprenticeship Program to Train New
Glassblowers

 

By Warren Johnston

Valley News Staff Writer Sunday, April 27, 2014  

 

Windsor Vermont - Sweating in front of a 2,400-degree oven in shorts and a
T-shirt must have seemed like an ideal job for the 50 or so applicants who
answered a Simon Pearce advertisement for its glassblower apprenticeship
program back in late February, when a warm day hovered around 15 above.

 

In fact, company officials were surprised by the response. They had thought
they might have to cast a regional net for candidates, but all the members
of the "strong" group of applicants came from the Upper Valley.

 

"We were really pleased with the quality of the applicants and the number
who turned out," Mara Rivera, vice president of human resources at Simon
Pearce, said last week.

 

Demand has been high for the company's hand-blown glass in the last few
years, and the company has been pressed to keep up, particularly because
there's a shortage of qualified glassblowers.

 

Simon Pearce glassware and glass objects are sold in high-end department
stores and in the company's five retail stores, as well as two factory
outlets.

 

Faced with a lack of manpower, mounting overtime and orders to fill for wine
glasses, bowls and other glass products, company officials came up with the
new program that allows them to qualify and hire apprentices without having
to slow down production for training.

 

In the past, glassblower candidates would be hired and trained on the job,
working with a production team until they learned the trade. That process
slowed production because it took the most skilled members of the team off
the line and made them trainers.

 

The new program, which began this month, allows the two- or three-member
teams to work a normal shift during the day, and the trainers to work three
nights a week with the apprentices in an eight-week course.

 

Glassblowing is not a job for everyone. Those looking for a relaxing 9 a.m.
to 5 p.m. shift need not apply.

 

The process can be dangerous if workers don't have their wits about them and
adhere to strict safety procedures. Once the molten ball of glass is pulled
from the blazing furnace, it needs to be attended to - molded or blown into
shape, cut and cooled properly.

 

Glassblowers have to work quickly, safely and accurately. And Simon Pearce
has set a high bar for quality, and production levels have to be maintained.

 

If a piece goes wrong, then it's recycled and mixed with a special company
mixture of silica sand pellets that contain lime, potash and other minerals.
About 3 percent of the glassblowers' work has to be recycled, said Bill
Browne, a master glassblower and the Quechee glass production manager. He's
heading up the training for the new apprentice program.

 

Luke Nilsson, of Quechee, has grown up around Simon Pearce and has wanted to
be a glassblower for the last four years. The 18-year-old Hartford High
senior is part of the apprentice program, and although he doesn't find the
work easy, he's enthusiastic about his future as a glassblower. "I really
love it. It's much better than I originally thought it was going to be. I'm
glad they gave me an opportunity to do this. I'd love to do it the rest of
my life," Nilsson said.

 

His older brother, Matt, also is in the program and is excited about getting
a shot at a permanent position. "It's a dream job. It's a little more
fast-paced than I anticipated, but I've always dreamed of having a career at
Simon Pearce since I was growing up," he said.

 

The glassblowing program came at a good time for Scott Swart, a Hanover High
School graduate who recently got out of the Marine Corps after serving four
years, stationed for two of them in Okinawa, Japan.

 

He's between jobs, and the glassblowing program is on the other end of the
spectrum from his recently concluded position, which was blowing snow at the
Dartmouth Skiway. "It was quite a shift from making snow at negative 20 to a
2,400-degree furnace," Swart said. "I'm really glad I was selected, and I
hope to do this for a long time. It's hard. I've never done anything like
this before, and it's really challenging. But challenging is good. I like
that. It's hard to measure how well I'm doing, but I think I'm progressing."

 

>From the applicant pool of 50, there were 28 who were interviewed, Browne
said.

 

"I was looking for certain skills, things that we could build off of to make
them a good fit for our teams, such skill sets as having played team sports
or a background in the building trades," said Browne, who has been with
Simon Pearce for 18 years and worked as a carpenter prior to taking the
glassblowing position.

 

Out of the 28 candidates interviewed, Browne found 10 who seemed to fit the
criteria, and after the training is completed, the best five or six will be
hired immediately.

 

The company's glassblowers work eight-hour shifts, usually making one
product for four hours and then changing to another, Browne said.

 

If the candidates who don't make the top five or six are suited for the
work, they will be given a shot at future employment, Rivera said.

 

Simon Pearce has 49 glassblowers working in production facilities in
Windsor, Quechee and in Mountain Lake Park, Md. Because of a number of
recent hires, the nine-year average tenure of the glassblowers is skewed
downward, said the company's marketing specialist, Meghan Mahoney, noting
that 34 of the glassblowers have more than 10 years with the company, and 11
of those have more than 20 years on the job.

 

The 96-hour apprentice program offers participants an opportunity to learn
the skill of glassblowing, as well as earning $10 an hour. The
three-night-a-week sessions also don't interfere with their daytime
activities, Rivera said, adding that the apprentices have other jobs or are
in school.

 

Grants from the Vermont Department of Economic Development's Training
Program cover up to half the costs of the apprentices. The program also
benefits the four trainers, who are taking part in the Upper Valley program.
In addition to a fixed financial incentive, they were given a 16-hour
workshop in how to provide positive feedback and how to motivate the
apprentices. They also learned how to recognize and adapt to different
learning styles, Rivera said.

 

Simon Pearce plans to hold another training program in its Maryland
production facility later this year.

 

 


Tony Patti
  
 <http://www.glassblower.info> www.glassblower.info
  
 <mailto:gaffer at glassblower.info> gaffer at glassblower.info

 <http://www.glassblower.info/qr-code.html> QR Code for Tony Patti -
www.glassblower.info

 

 

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