A strong supporter of continuing education in Arizona, AGM Container Controls collaborates with the University of Arizona to provide students with real-world learning opportunities.
Specifically, AGM partners with the UA College of Engineering and Eller College of Management Business MBA program to provide projects that challenge these students to apply what they’ve learned in school to create workable solutions to existing or potential manufacturing difficulties. Interestingly, the alliance also enables AGM to pre-screen potential local talent for future job opportunities with the company.
Students benefit because the project typically challenges their design, development, and problem-solving skills. In the past, AGM projects have ranged from engineering design ideas to business process feasibility projects.
The mutually beneficial assignments enable engineering students to get real-world experience and mentoring from AGM engineers, while also allowing AGM to take a look at up-and-coming local engineering talent. This enables AGM, which is both a family-run Tucson business for more than 40 years, as well as an Employee Stock Ownership Plan company, to help keep engineering talent in Tucson whenever they’re in the hiring mode.
AGM’s employee education program, initiated nearly 40 years ago and still continuing today, now enables current AGM employees to work part-time or full-time while they attend college. They are then reimbursed for the cost of their education up to $5,200 per year depending on their grades.
AGM Management is such a strong supporter of employees continuing their education that Management encourages all employees to enhance their future employability, at AGM or somewhere else, by availing themselves of AGM’s Educational Assistance Program (EAP).
“When employees go back to school, AGM wins because these ambitious employees improve or learn new important job skills, such as how to write, analyze and organize, etc. Pursuing outside education often enables these employees to climb the corporate ladder faster than those who don’t,” said Howard Stewart, AGM’s President and CEO.
In fact, AGM Management supports employees using AGM’s EAP to take courses that are non-work-related, as long as these classes are part of an Associates, Bachelors or Graduate program. Stewart added, “Worst case scenario, we graduate a teacher, nurse, paralegal (career skills that AGM doesn’t need), and our local Tucson community becomes a little bit stronger.”
As of the Spring semester 2012, 15% of AGM’s 110 employees are using AGM’s EAP to further their education, if not to pursue a degree.
