Located in Ararat, Bartco is the leading Australian Manufacturer of Traffic Management Equipment. The company has taken on several Ararat Community College VCAL students for Structured Work Placement (SWL) this year, employing one on a School Based Apprenticeship and hoping to employ another in the same way next year.

Owners Trevor and Troy Wallard started Bartco in 1995 as a traffic management company and recognising a growing need in the industry invested in research and development before establishing the manufacturing enterprise in 1998.

Bartco now manufactures a wide range of Traffic Management Equipment (solar powered, portable electronic signs) for the Road Traffic Industry and advertising purposes. You can find out more about Bartco by visiting their website at www.bartco.com.au .

The company’s introduction to the SWL program began when Norm Hager, a VCAL Projects teacher at Ararat Community College, took his class on a tour of the company’s work site. From this visit it was arranged for several students to go out on SWL one day a week, as part of their VCAL Work Related Skills studies.

Students at Bartco get a chance to do some welding, grinding, wiring, and are involved in many aspects of the trailer manufacture and assembly. “Basically I get to have a little go at everything’ said Renee.
‘You don’t want them just sweeping the floors’ says Trevor, ‘even though that is a part of it’.

Trevor and Troy were able to see these young people in action in their own business, interacting with other employees and undertaking tasks. ‘Not every kid who came through the door worked out’, said Trevor, ‘but those who did we are very happy with’.

Renee Stevens was employed on a School Based Apprenticeship early in term 3 2006, working two days a week and attending school the other three. Renee was not previously doing any subjects related to the engineering field, in fact she had chosen Community Services (Childcare) as her VET subject, but after spending time at Bartco on SWL, she discovered that she enjoyed the environment and working with her hands. ‘I’m loving it’, she said when asked if she was enjoying working at Bartco.

Tim Oxley, a VET Automotive student, has made a very positive impression in his time on SWL at Bartco. Trevor said ‘Tim was great,’ but, as is often the case with young people, Tim wanted to try another profession. The school arranged for Tim to spend time on SWL with an electrician before returning to do some more work at Bartco. Trevor is hoping that Tim will be interested in an apprenticeship in the future and supports him taking the opportunity to look at other careers interests so that, when the time comes, he can make a commitment to the apprenticeship and working within the company.

‘This is exactly the kind of employer we want working with us in the SWL program,’ said Dianne Stewart, SWL Program Coordinator. ‘Trevor and Troy are willing to give young people a go, understanding that they need to spend a little time inducting and instructing them and that not every student will work out. They also appreciate the rewards of the program for the company, which include being able to identify the best candidates for any future apprenticeships or employment’.

For more information on VET and SWL work placements, or to offer a student a placement within your business, contact the Pyrenees and Grampians VET Cluster & SWL Program Coordinator, Dianne Stewart, on 0438 502 411.