Carson City manufacturer Click Bond will be featured in a “60 Minutes” report this coming Sunday about the gap in skills needed by American companies.The company manufactures high-tech fasteners for the aircraft industry and, according to Click Bond CEO Karl Hutter, he like many other American manufacturers is having a rough time finding enough skilled workers for his factory.According to a release by CBS News, the company wanted to buy machinery from a factory in Connecticut and move it to Nevada but, instead, was forced to simply buy the factory because it couldn’t find enough skilled labor in Nevada to run the machines.“We can’t find enough students who are interested in pursuing these trades,” said Hutter.“We’re in the business of making fasteners that hold systems together that protect people in the air when they are flying,” said company spokesman Ryan Costella. “We’re in the business of perfection.”He said Click Bond, like other manufacturers, is battling the problem by developing jobs training programs at local colleges, including Western Nevada College in Carson City. Students learn how to operate computerized machinery, read blueprints and make precise measurements.Jamie Pacheco, one of the students interviewed by “60 Minutes,” said his work as a commercial painter dried up during the recession but that the training program has given him the challenge of a new career.“I like the fact that I have to put my brain to work and be able to apply myself to do this kind of stuff,” he said.60 Minutes airs at 7 p.m. Sunday on CBS, Channel 2 in western Nevada.
