Robert C. Byrd Institute to celebrate 20th anniversary Aug. 10

    HUNTINGTON – The Robert C. Byrd Institute for Advanced Flexible Manufacturing will celebrate its 20th anniversary as West Virginia’s advanced manufacturing technology center with an open house from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 10 at its Bridgeport, W.Va., location.

    The RCBI Machinist Technology Program’s Class of 2010 graduation ceremony will be staged in conjunction with the open house, beginning at 6 p.m. Twenty-one people will receive their National Certifications from the National Institute of Metalworking Skills.

    For the first time since the inception of the program, a combined graduation ceremony for students who completed their training in Huntington, Wheeling, and Rocket Center (near Keyser in the eastern panhandle) will be conducted jointly with the students at Bridgeport.

    Kelley Goes, West Virginia’s Secretary of the Department of Commerce, will be the keynote speaker. Steve Mandes, President of the National Institute of Metalworking Skills, will attend, along with Industry Board of Advisors made up of manufacturers from throughout West Virginia, who advise RCBI’s MTP Program.

    The open house will feature manufacturing seminars, networking opportunities, machining demonstrations as well as seminars and technology displays by more than 45 representatives from machine tool vendors and equipment suppliers across the region.

    “RCBI is pleased to mark this very important milestone by continuing to bring close to 50 high tech machine tool vendors and equipment suppliers to West Virginia to demonstrate the power of technology and its effects on our economy,” said Charlotte Weber, director and CEO of RCBI.

    “To date, because of introduction to and training offered at RCBI, nearly 200 pieces of high-end machines representing an investment of $26 million have been made in West Virginia. And, more than 280 individuals have graduated from RCBI’s Machinist Technology Program. RCBI is West Virginia’s and the region’s source of the latest technologies and technical training.”

    The next round of RCBI’s nationally-certified training classes at Huntington, Bridgeport, Rocket Center and Wheeling will begin Aug. 23. There are still openings at each location for those who are interested in a manufacturing career that pays well and offers benefits.

    For further information or to enroll, contact Larry Cartmill, technical program recruiter, at 304-654-0424, or Kathryn Stanley, workforce development recruiter, at 304-641-8588. Or, call 800-469-RCBI (7224) or e-mail machinistprogam@rcbi.org.