Deceuninck offers window of opportunity to college students

Window and door maker Deceuninck North America LLC is searching for new profiles for employees, and about a dozen new hires have signed up through Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

The Monroe, Ohio-based company — part of a Belgian window and door global supplier — is offering college students paid tuition and paychecks for at least 24 hours of work per week in the extrusion or lamination operations at its headquarters site about 30 miles from Cincinnati.

The university program is called Work Plus with the "plus" for students being an associate or bachelor's degree and experience at a major company in addition to paid tuition and an income of $10 to $14 an hour.

Deceuninck's North American operation in Monroe is located about 10 miles from one from university campus and 30 miles from another. Both are in the southwest area of the state, where four businesses in total will participate in Work Plus.

"Our main goal is giving back to the community and allowing students to graduate debt-free," Natasha Williams, Deceuninck's talent acquisition lead, said in a phone interview. "In return, we get individuals to work in the plant and in our line of business — manufacturing — it is a difficult area to staff nowadays."

Founded in 1937, Deceuninck manufactures PVC and composite profiles for windows and doors at 15 plants worldwide.

With $156 million in sales, the Hooglede-Gits, Belgium-based Deceuninck is the No. 32 pipe, profile and tubing extruder in North America, according to Plastics News' latest ranking.

The company's Ohio site is located near Cincinnati and its 301,300 residents, which widens the employee candidate pool, but a lack of public transportation creates a barrier.

"This area has a lot of manufacturing and industrial businesses and outlets and a casino," Williams said. "But it's also disconnected in a sense from transit. So, if you're somebody without a car ... that affects you getting to work."

Once at work, new hires often need to adjust to the 12-hour shifts both in terms of being inside a plant for half a day as well as putting in that much work time.

"Unfortunately for some, that can be a bit of a struggle," Williams said.

Work Plus students, however, will be motivated to earn a degree as much as earn a living. Many have their own cars and appreciate the flexibility of a 24/7 operation as they carry a class load of 12 credit hours in the fall and spring and six credit hours in the summer.

"One student wants to work 12 hours on Mondays and Wednesdays and then pick up shifts on the weekends. Sure, we can do that," Williams said. "We'll work with supervisors to schedule around their needs."

Deceuninck also has a traditional internship program that puts four college students to work in its human resources, accounting, marketing and engineering departments from May through July.

In addition, Deceuninck offers full-time employees a $5,000 reimbursement for college tuition or an adult certification program or a professional development program.

The Work Plus program gives young adults who could be prospective hires at some future date the chance to learn more about the advanced manufacturing environment and career opportunities at the company.

"There's so much more to manufacturing than being in a plant and driving a forklift," Williams said. "This is a high-tech facility where you can see how objects you encounter every day, like a door or window, start with the raw ingredients. From the formula to components moving from one machine to another machine, everything is orchestrated to produce the frame."

Students interested in engineering and mechanics will likely work in extrusion, while the creative types will be in lamination.

"It's the bread and butter of our production and with our business growing at the rate that it is. The orders are rolling in [and] having quality workers in extrusion and lamination is very important to us," Williams said.

Deceuninck's sales in North America increased 1.7 percent to 131.3 million euros ($145.8 million) in the 2018 fiscal year. The company reported volume growth of 5.4 percent due to strong business development and new customers.

Williams said Deceuninck's wide offering of PVC and composite window and door profiles in faux wood grains and a variety of colors spur a lot of the demand. Last year, the company added "anthracite grey" and "smooth black" laminate films to its color lineup.

Deceuninck calls its laminate technology Solex. The laminates are applied on the interior for color and the exterior for heat reflection, weather resistance and color retention. And they take advantage of the critical eye brought by students.

"Creative people work well in this area," Williams said. "You need to look intently at the product to make sure everything is smooth, everything is clean, there are no bubbles. Customers expect very high quality, so an important part of the job is looking at the details and delivering that high quality. You might be the last person to catch something and you have to make the decision to go to your leader or supervisor and say we may need to change this up a little bit."

In addition to meeting customer requirements, Deceuninck wants Work Plus students to be engaged and feel a part of the company team.

"You want them to be so satisfied with what they're doing that they stay," Williams said.

About a dozen students are participating in this year's Work Plus program at Deceuninck, and those that return will get a raise in 2020 if they enroll again.

Williams said the company could use about 20 students. She expects participation in the Work Plus program to grow next year with another marketing push into the vocational education programs at nearby high schools as well as word-of-mouth endorsements from parents.

"The reality is you have to get to the parents," Williams said. "We have found if you get to the mom, you're good. Usually the moms run the school side of the household. You tell them about the program and they instantly think logically. Wait, no tuition. All we have to cover is books."

College will be within grasp of more young adults with Work Plus, and that earns high marks with Deceuninck officials regardless of whether they stay the course with the manufacturer.

"Overall, we're really excited about it, and we hope it helps our students and gives back to the community," Williams said. "We want to give people who may not have thought about furthering their education the opportunity to go to college."