Brick by Brick Apprenticeship:
Pillar #1 WORK
"I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it."
-Thomas Jefferson
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WORK.
Hard work. 24-32 hours a week (sometimes more), paid and with Paid time off for company holidays. You will start as what we call a "Factory Associate" where you will learn every aspect of our operations, before rotating over to the sales/marketing/customer service side after mastering operations.
So what is a factory associate?
In any job, you want to envision what your experience would be like. Want to join Applebee's waiting tables? I'm sure you can envision what that would be.
But what is a Factory Associate at PAVERART?
We'll start by understanding what PAVERART does, and what our role is in the world.
We are the world leader in custom paver design and manufacturing.
As the name states, for 19 years we have been perfecting the craft of turning Pavers into ART. 35 seconds and this video will showcase some designs.
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We created this segment of the market and it's not a craft you can go anywhere to learn. So we need to create our own "curriculum" for all the team members that learn our craft and running a small business. We've been perfecting this craft for 19 years. Here's our story, where we've been and a bit of our philosophy.
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As a small business, you will not be just another number. We are 5 full-time employees and 3 part time employees. We work as a team, but each player has real responsibilies that need to be executed for our business to perform optimally. When business performs at its peak level, all the team members thrive.
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Specifically, PAVERART has 2 core businesses:
1) PAVERART designs
2) Engraved Fundraising Pavers & Memorials
Our Business requires True SKILL DEVELOPMENT:
Overall, 6 Overall Categories of SKILL
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Sandblasting - Used for Engraving pavers, memorials, designs
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CNC Technology (computer numeric control) High Pressure cutting systems - Used throughout the USA, including high precision applications such as NASA, automotive, government contracting and cutting all types of materials for architectural applications
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Design - We bring our designs to life with Computer Aided Design
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Shop maintenance - Keep equipment up and running vs FIXING them. Preventing problems always beats fixing them. If you develop those skills to keep a plant up and running, that is a huge value to a business!
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Front office administration (planning/accounting) applications: QuickBooks, Full Microsoft Office suite, CRM software (Hubspot).
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Sales & Marketing:- Telling our story with all available tools and methods: Direct Sales Conversations, Google, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok, email campaigns, blogging, vlogging, podcasting and post sale follow up.
As a small business, PAVERART has some key advantages for those entering our Brick by Brick Apprenticeship Program:
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Exposure to every business function that makes us run
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True skill development. It has taken nearly 2 decades to perfect our craft and be in a position to turn this into an apprenticeship.
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You have deep exposure to each team member, including the co-founder of PAVERART (Mike Bull) and the owner (Mark Olivito) who has owned/led businesses for over 15 years. Each team member's experience gets "integrated" into the Brick by Brick apprenticeship.
To start out as a Factory Associate, we bring our Apprentice through the following core functions:
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Assembly
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Packaging
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CNC operations
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Machine maintenance & repair
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All steps of Engraving
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Personal goal setting and performance management
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Performing ANY job is all about understanding and ultimately RESULTS. Results are about understanding expectations, then exceeding them. For some, it comes naturally, and many struggle with this. We will help jumpstart your ability to exceed expectations with disciplined goal setting, measurement, feedback and adjustments.
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This method will be a lifelong discipline that the majority of the workforce struggles with, but can set anybody apart from the crowd. Exceeding expectations is a vague concept, and you won't find a college course on this. But if there were a top 10 list of things that accelerate careers, compensation and overall satisfaction, this is at the top of the list. It's why Brick by Brick is unique.
You can check out a post on results here: Want a Raise? Remember This Quip
Once these core areas are mastered, then we move onto phase 2:
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Manufacturing design
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Customer Service
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Sales & Marketing Support
A solid understanding of the 6 Skill areas is expected to take 4 years, with varying lengths of time to grasp each area and key milestone goals set every 90 days to ensure "mastery." Think of it as a mid term quiz.
As the education component progresses, so too with the responsibility in the Work Component.
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Think of work this way: You will be furthering your business education formally for 4 years. Your WORK at PAVERART, will INTEGRATE that education, so you are not just learning about the real world, you are fully immersed IN THE REAL WORLD. When you combine WORK + Education it makes for a tremendously valuable apprentice with MANY options available as you progress.
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Great Products Are Not Possible Without Great Teams!
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