Cincinnati veteran to earn Manufacturing Skill Standards Council’s 50,000th credential

The Manufacturing Skill Standards Council (MSSC), a leader in manufacturing and logistics credentialing, will present its 50,000th credential to Daniel Kessler of the Get Skills to Work program today at the SuperJobs Center in Cincinnati.

Kessler, 27, of Cincinnati, received an honorable discharge from the U.S. Navy in June 2013, after serving seven years as a naval firefighter. He applied for a job with the Cincinnati Fire Department, where he made the first cut. He then enrolled in the Get Skills to Work program at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College. Having passed the complete MSSC curriculum, Kessler leaves the program as a Certified Production Technician (CPT).

“The 50,000th credential is a milestone in the accelerating growth of MSSC–the nation’s leading certification body for core technical, entry-level skills of front-line workers in advanced manufacturing and logistics,” said Leo Reddy, chairman and CEO of MSSC. “We are delighted that a veteran is receiving this credential, as we believe that this credential will put more veterans back to work.

“We are also grateful that the MSSC curriculum has been embraced by many partners in Ohio – including employers, educational institutions, community organizations, labor and the Southwest Ohio Region Workforce Investment Board (SWORWIB),” said Reddy.

The Manufacturing Skill Standards Council, based in Alexandria, Va., offers industry-recognized credentials in manufacturing and logistics. Its credentials, which lead to two nationally portable certifications—Certified Production Technician and Certified Logistics Technician—are recognized by companies across the United States, including several in Southwest Ohio, as well as the National Association of Manufacturers. MSSC is the only national certification body accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) against the highest international standards (ISO 17024).

The MSSC curriculum is offered by Cincinnati State, Great Oaks, Butler Tech, the Community Action Agency of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, the Urban League of Greater Cincinnati, and Easter Seals TriState. The Southwest Ohio Region Workforce Investment Board partnered with the Communication Workers of Ohio in 2010-11 to bring MSSC training to workers who lost their jobs in plant closings across the region, including Jim Beam, Graphic Packaging and Avon. Armed with a CPT, many of these workers were able to find new jobs.

Ohio, with over 8,000 MSSC credentials issued, is one of the top states in the country for the credentials.

“Employers tell us that this is a valuable credential,” said Sherry Kelley Marshall, president and CEO of the SWORWIB. “Displaced workers who receive this training and earn the CPT or CLT have an easier time finding a new job in manufacturing or logistics.”

Scott Ellsworth, vice president of U.S. Operations at Tipco Punch in Hamilton, Ohio, leads a manufacturing consortium that has supported the MSSC credential for several years. “The MSSC credentials tell employers that this job candidate possesses certain competencies and skills,” he said. “In fact, many area employers give preference to candidates who have these credentials.”

Get Skills to Work, a nationwide initiative led by General Electric, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Alcoa, and the Manufacturing Institute, was launched in October 2012 with the goal of training and matching 100,000 veterans to manufacturing jobs by 2015. It adopted the MSSC curriculum for its core training. Cincinnati State enrolled the first class in January 2013.