Harpers, Training Center Teaming Up Furniture Maker, Nic Exchange Space, Equipment For Painting Program
Harpers Inc. needs a spray-painting course. The North Idaho College Workforce Training Center needs more space.
The first problem could solve the second, center direct Robert Ketchum said Tuesday.
The furniture maker wants to donate $100,000 worth of electrostatic painting equipment to the center, which is near its Post Falls plant. In return, the center would provide space for the equipment and a training program for Harpers’ employees and anyone else who wanted to learn those skills.
“We could never do anything like this without them,” said Ketchum, adding that no other school in the region offers such a course. “If we can build this program to meet Harpers’ needs, it will pave the way to work with other employers.”
An estimated 15 companies in the Inland Northwest need workers who can operate the equipment, Ketchum said. It uses an electrical charge to cause paint to stick to a surface, such as Harpers’ metal office furniture. The finish then is baked in an oven.
Before NIC could accept the equipment, the training center would need to expand. After only two years in operation, it’s already outgrown its 22,000-square-foot building near the Post Falls Outlet Malls.
There’s room for a 5,000-square-foot addition. The Harpers project would take up 1,500 feet, and there would be plenty of other programs to fill the remaining 3,500 feet, Ketchum said. A new computer lab opening this fall is taking up some of the heavily used classroom space.
The center was built with $1.4 million from the North Idaho College Foundation. It’s up to the foundation board of directors to seek money for an addition, said Ketchum.
Harpers officials couldn’t be reached for comment about the proposal. The company already has been a big boost to the training center, which helped get the Post Falls plant “up and running” by training new employees, Ketchum said.
The center got a $9,000 state grant for a one-week painting training program, which was offered at Harpers last week, Ketchum said. An NIC instructor was among those who took the course. For now, Harpers is making do by training people at the plant. But that causes a bottleneck in production, he said.
, DataTimes