Build Your Workforce Before You Need It: MSP’s Apprenticeship Pipeline | Ep. 539

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Most machine shops start thinking seriously about workforce development when they already need someone. A machinist quits, capacity jumps, the backlog grows, and suddenly finding skilled people becomes an emergency.

MSP Manufacturing has taken a very different approach. Johnny Goode joins Paul and Brooke to explain how MSP has spent years building relationships with high schools, apprenticeship programs, students, parents, and the broader manufacturing community. Now, as the company experiences more than 50% revenue growth, that investment is starting to pay off.

We dig into ROI Uplands, a regional program connecting high school students with real employers, and what it actually looks like to bring 16- and 17-year-olds into a working machine shop. Can apprentices contribute meaningfully in an environment where quality, safety, and precision matter? How much training does it take? And what happens to your culture when young people become a regular part of the team?

We also get into the bigger problem facing manufacturing: many students and their parents still have no idea what these careers actually look like. Johnny, Paul, and Brooke talk about the earning potential hiding inside modern manufacturing, why exposure needs to start long before graduation, and what shops can do to help create the next generation of machinists instead of waiting for someone else to do it.

What’s Covered in this Episode

• (0:00) Why these apprentices hold themselves to a higher standard than anyone sets for them
• (2:17) Reintroducing Johnny Goode and getting a snapshot of MSP Manufacturing
• (4:11) 30 employees, six apprentices, and 50% revenue growth without adding bodies
• (5:30) How ROI Uplands links nine counties of Indiana high schools to local employers
• (7:51) Take your shop to the next level with DN Solutions
• (9:05) Eagle Manufacturing and the student-run businesses taking real jobs from industry
• (10:35) Interview day, the draft, and the state reimbursing half of apprentice wages
• (11:55) A three-to-two tuition deal that sends students into the workforce with zero debt
• (13:04) Brooke on steamfitting, welding, and the year of college she’d take back
• (14:47) 500 applicants, 100 placements, and why Indiana is ahead of the curve
• (16:14) What happens to culture when apprentices are the children of your employees
• (17:57) Win a fully tooled SVM 4100 from MakingChips, DN Solutions, and Kennametal
• (18:44) Why people apply to MSP when there are no job postings anywhere
• (20:38) What MSP does to support their community
• (21:40) The Band-Aid analogy: keep patching the wound or repair it
• (23:42) What a day actually looks like for an apprentice on the floor
• (26:09) What success looks like: Hiring for culture fit over subject matter expertise
• (29:10) Why students are choosing manufacturing internships
• (31:05) Countering the stigma that the trades are the fallback option
• (33:42) The $180,000 setup programmer nobody talks about
• (36:00) Reality-based AI for the factory floor at the IMTS Industrial AI Conference
• (35:19) AI as a force multiplier, not a people replacer
• (37:26) Why schools turn down free software, and what ProShop does instead
• (42:12) Advisory boards, wait lists, and the tech school near Tulsa with no students
• (45:33) Reaching third graders before anyone tells them what a machinist is
• (50:07) What gives Johnny the most hope for the next generation

Resources Mentioned

• ROI Uplands
• Eagle Manufacturing (Brown County High School)
• ProShop ERP
• DN Solutions
• Kennametal
• Conexus Indiana
• MakingChips Machine Giveaway
• IMTS
• IMTS Industrial AI Conference
• Titans of CNC

Connect with Johnny Goode

• Johnny Goode on LinkedIn
• MSP Manufacturing

Connect with MakingChips

• www.MakingChips.com
• On Facebook
• On LinkedIn
• On Instagram
• On Twitter
• On YouTube