A group of long-term unemployed men last week received high-tech manufacturing training certificates from the Central Massachusetts Workforce Investment Board and MACWIC (Manufacturing Advancement Center Workforce Innovation Collaborative) at the Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MassMEP) in Worcester, Mass.

Worcester Polytechnic Institute undergraduates helped train the men to use CNC machines at WPI's manufacturing laboratories, according to a news item posted to the WPI website. At the end of the 7-week program, which includes 2 weeks at MassMEP and 5 weeks at WPI, graduates receive an "applied manufacturing technology pathway certification through MACWIC."

What's more, WPI reported, "many of the unemployed workers end up securing jobs." The training program runs three times a year.