Before Kaela Martin completed the Front Line Advanced Supervisor course at Berkshire Community College, she had already made smart career choices. She had landed a job as a welder fabricator at Lenco, an armored vehicle manufacturer in Pittsfield, in 2023 and was proving herself to be a valuable employee. But Kaela isn't the type of person to sit still and let her career path determine itself — or, worse, become stagnant.

 

"I started kind of accidentally working my way up at Lenco, just my helping my crew chief and taking on extra responsibilities. They saw potential and wanted to develop that. They wanted to give me the tools to do my job properly," Kaela said. 

 

Lenco arranged for her to take the course at BCC, and she began working half of her time in the office and half on the shop floor.

 

"It was very unique position. I think it's a superpower, in a way," Kaela said. "I have respect on the team because they know I'm a fabricator and they know I understand their world, and now I also understand this world. It's helpful being able to bring the two together."

 

Because Kaela is always looking for ways to improve, the BCC course seemed to be a logical fit. It took a year to complete the rigorous course, which was held every Tuesday for 4-6 hours and totaled more than 150 hours. While taking the course, Kaela maintained her full-time schedule at Lenco, and those hours counted towards the technical hours required for the class. Upon completion, Kaela earned a certificate of apprenticeship and a certificate of Lean Manufacturing.

 

Kaela concedes that the course was challenging, but the rewards are worth it. After all, she is no stranger to hard work.

 

Born and raised in Sheffield, where she still lives with her family, Kaela has been around trades her whole life. She learned the value of trades from her father, who was an electrician.

 

"I grew up doing a lot of things with my hands. I'd be getting into trouble if I didn't have something to do," Kaela laughed. 

 

She and her sister were homeschooled, starting at an early age, which allowed her to graduate at age 16. She experimented with different careers, including childcare, fulfillment and the medical field, before landing a job at Lenco in 2023. The company, which employs more than 100, builds armored response and rescue vehicles for police officers, firefighters and military personnel all over the world.

 

Currently, Kaela — whose team comprises about 20 people — is one of the leads on a major project at Lenco involving a significant equipment upgrade and a change of the layout of her entire floor.

 

"It can be overwhelming and stressful, but I see it as growing pains," Kaela said. "I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for that BCC class. It gave me the tools to approach this position."

 

A big part of what Kaela learned in the Front Line Advanced Supervisor course, she said, is how to identify an issue before it happens — and how to learn from your mistakes.

 

"Having a project or an idea that fails means not just scrapping it, but identifying what went wrong and fixing it," she said. "It's important to include your operators, your fabricators, the people out on the floor who actually do the work, in your process. It's their home. We don't want to just go out there and change things. We want them to be a part of it. They're going to have some of the best insights you could possibly get."

 

This process can be the difference between project failure and success, she said.

 

"You have to be able to pick up the scraps of what didn't work and shape them, rather than just being defeated, but you also have to mentally prepare for when things go wrong. It can be frustrating when a project doesn't get completed," Kaela added. "We learned a lot of techniques and tools in the class for planning out a project and then adapting, changing and reinforcing as you go."

 

On a typical workday, Kaela spends some work time on her own, some with her project team and some with her crew chief. She makes sure to spend time out on the floor, talking to as many people as she can.

 

"A big part of what I do, no matter what it is, is that it always has to do with people. I see my coworkers more than I see my family. I love my team so much," she said. "So, to be able to walk around and have those conversations gives us that relationship where if something goes wrong, they're going to tell me. I try to make life better for the team. It's a balance between process improvement and teambuilding."

 

Before taking the Front Line Advanced Supervisor course, Kaela had already been introduced to BCC. Following completion of her high school homeschooling, she took Bio 101 with BCC professor Gina Foley, an experience she calls "awesome."

 

"I wanted to take a college class just to see if I could do it. It was such a positive experience," said Kaela, who did well on the placement test but notes the importance of having free tutoring available for those students who don't pass the test. She also praises BCC for filling valuable workforce needs.

 

"The best thing is just knowing that BCC is supporting and advertising the trades. Trades is such a fantastic option, but it's not taught as much in schools. It's not offered as an equal option to traditional college," she said. "If more people knew that, there would be so many more people going into the trades."

 

As for Kaela, she plans to keep learning and growing at Lenco.

 

"If I'm stagnant, I get bored. Being in a position like this at Lenco is challenging, but it's a good thing for me," she said. "I'm going to continue to develop my skills and to never say no to new opportunities, even if I think they don't align with my goals. You never know where it's going to take you."

 

And, while her work can be challenging, Kaela said, the rewards are tangible.

 

"We've had police officers come in and tell us stories or show us body cam footage of them using our trucks, and they say, 'What you're doing here saves lives. I'm home with my family and talking to you now because of you,' Kaela said. "That keeps you going. It feels good."