Drake Enterprises Incorporated of Clinton Township, Michigan, manufactures driveline and transmission components. The company officially began its production with Plant 2. Plant 2 is the newly acquired 38,000 square foot building. Drake Enterprises promoted 11 employees to oversee the new processes. This was made possible because of the partnership Drake Enterprises has with Macomb/St. Clair Michigan Works! (M/SC MW!) and the Going Pro Talent Fund (GPTF). They received the GPTF from the State of Michigan Workforce Development.
Since Drake Enterprises began 68 years ago, there has been significant growth. However, nothing like what has been experienced recently. The company discovered there was a skills gap when interviewing job seekers. The GPTF gave them the resources they needed to help train their current workforce. This allowed them to promote from within.
Additionally, Drake Enterprises had the privilege to fill a new position for CMM Programmer in the Quality Department. They also hired Tim S. through the OJT program. With grant funds from the GPTF, they were able to send Tim to take quality courses. He completed the courses at M-TEC at Macomb Community College. Tim is now Drake Enterprises’ top trainer for all incoming Quality Technicians.
Nathan Stemple, president of Drake Enterprises, states, “We could not have picked a better county to have both Plant 1 and Plant 2. The amount of support we have received has helped us grow in the past year, which includes the GPTF. The training that we were able to provide to our employees has boosted their performance and increased morale. We have recently updated our vision statement which is ‘Proving the American Dream is Possible’. My version of the American Dream is to expand the business. Most importantly, empower our employees by increasing education and training. We have been fortunate to do this through our partnership with M/SC MW! and the GPTF.”
