Many accomplished people attribute their success to determination and education.
Oshawa business owner Ron Hall is living proof.
After working at a series of jobs and a stint of unemployment, Hall, who had left school in Grade 11, realized he needed to get his life back on track. In the fall of 1995 he enrolled in the Machining Techniques program at Durham College's Skills Training Centre in Whitby and graduated the following spring. Hall has never looked back.
"I like taking a raw piece of material and turning it into something," says Hall, who has been co-owner/operator of Oshawa Gear for the past two years. "I worked on a lot of projects at the Skills Training Centre and even built a radio-controlled car out of aluminum."
Hall really enjoyed his program and his Durham instructors. "They are informative and very patient. They really help students out."
Hall's company builds a variety of gears for a range of customers in Canada and the United States. His local customers include Co-Steel Lasco and General Motors. "We produce gears for backyard mechanics all the way up to big companies," says Hall.
His mother Lynda Phillips and her husband Paul are partners in Oshawa Gear. The company was founded by George and Emma Fogarassy in the 1960s. Frank Mudra, George's brother-in-law, got involved in the business when George died.
Hall says he really enjoys running his own show, and that he "...never does the same job twice in a day." The company employs seven people and Hall says he does just about everything from dealing with customers to deciding what jobs to take on and to directing employees and production.
One of Hall's fellow graduates now works at Oshawa Gear and some other grads are customers. Two Oshawa Gear employees are enrolled in Durham's Machinist Apprenticeship program.
High school students and adults contemplating a career in a skilled trade or apprenticeship have a lot to look forward to, says Hall. "They can expect to do well and find good jobs. Your future is limited only to what you want to put into it, especially gaining the proper knowledge."
Media Contact:
Catherine Shearer-Kudel
catherine.shearer-kudel@durhamc.on.ca
(905) 721-3111 ext. 2162
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