Whirlpool Associates Training at RAMTEC

RAMTEC closeupThrough a collaboration between Tri-Rivers Career Center and Marion Technical College, 24 maintenance and nine tooling apprentice associates from Whirlpool are receiving training in RAMTEC on the Tri-Rivers Campus.

“The Whirlpool associates had been in a five-year apprenticeship training program through Terra Tech, but with RAMTEC located in Marion, they can now train at a world class training facility close to home,” according to Ritch Ramey, RAMTEC coordinator. 


The instructors for the courses include: retired Whirlpool Maintenance Engineer Larry Wood, MTC Hydraulics; Levi Retterer and Scott Jones of Tri-Rivers will be leading the tooling apprenticeship; Wood, along with Tri-Rivers Adult Education Industrial Maintenance Coordinator Ted Davis and RAMTEC Robotics Coordinator Mark Edington will be teaching maintenance courses; Ramey will teach MTC Blueprint Reading/AutoCAD/SolidWorks; Jones will also teach TRCC Industrial Maintenance Metrology; Automation Engineer Clay Hammock will be teaching Rockwell Allen-Bradley PLCs and Parker Electrical/Hydraulics; and Obra Horn will teach Welding to the students.

“The Hydraulics course is using our new Parker Hydraulics  training facility,” said Ramey. “The facility is using the same industrial training equipment used in their national training center through a training partnership with Parker Hydraulics, headquartered in Cleveland.”  

Ramey said Tri-Rivers is also partnering with Rockwell Allen-Bradley to create a national training center at RAMTEC that will teach Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) to the Whirlpool trainees this Winter and Spring.

“Students will receive training on the latest industrial training equipment in our new RAMTEC training facility that was supported through the Straight A Grant,” said Ramey. “Our Industrial Maintenance, secondary and college students will also be able to earn certificates and be trained on the new equipment supplied by FANUC Robotics, FANUC CNC, Lincoln Robotic Welding, Yaskawa Motoman Robotics, Allen-Bradley PLCs, Mitsubishi PLCs and Parker Hydraulics in RAMTEC.”

“We are lucky to have such a talented pool of local specialists in their fields to help develop a ‘Best of Class’ Industrial Maintenance program for our community that is quickly becoming well known around the MidWest,” continued Ramey. “We have $6 billion dollar companies that are excited to be partnering with us to help fill the gap that this nation has in technical/engineering field.”

The students can earn up to 15 college credit hours as well as complete 640 hours of instruction in this state approved apprenticeship program,” explained Ramey. “Many other companies are also receiving training at RAMTEC advanced manufacturing facilities.”

For additional information on RAMTEC apprenticeship programs, contact Ramey at [email protected] or 740-360-8156.​