This year marks The Morse Group’s fifth year participating in the Craftsman with Character (CWC) program. Our involvement began in 2022 when CWC first expanded beyond the Edgerton area, where the program originated with Edgerton Gear. Like any new initiative, there was a learning curve. In those early years, schools and participating businesses learned together—determining what worked, what could be improved, and how to create an experience that was truly meaningful for students.
In the beginning, much of our focus was on what we could offer students:
- Exposure to career opportunities
- Hands-on experiences
- A chance to learn directly from professionals working in the industry
- An opportunity to envision a successful career in the trades
What we didn’t anticipate was how much the students and the program would give back to our own team.
CWC challenged our team members to become better teachers, leaders, and mentors. Seeing firsthand the impact of sharing their skills, experiences, and career paths with the next generation created a new sense of pride among our team. It also led The Morse Group to pursue additional mentorship training, giving employees more tools to effectively guide, teach, and develop young people.
Group Manager of Control Panels Josh Swiggum said one of the program’s biggest successes has been “seeing students move from learning about our industry through CWC to becoming part of the workforce. It demonstrates just how meaningful programs like this can be.”
Today, two members of our Panel Shop team came through the Craftsman with Character program. Alex Slown is now a full-time employee, while Cayden Miller is completing a Youth Apprenticeship with The Morse Group and hopes to join the team full-time after graduation.
Swiggum added, “Going into Craftsman with Character, I think we were all focused on what kind of impact we could have on the students. What I didn’t expect was the impact the students and the program would have on our own team. Now, we have people working on our team who came through the program themselves. Seeing that come full circle is probably the most rewarding part for me.”
As we enter our fifth year, Craftsman with Character has become much more than a way to introduce students to the trades. It’s an opportunity to develop young people, strengthen our own employees as mentors and leaders, build our company culture, and create stronger connections between The Morse Group and the communities we serve.
We’re incredibly proud to support CWC and the impact it continues to have. We’re excited to kick off another year and see where the experience takes this year’s students—and our team.