Steel 360 fabrication engineering apprentice, Kye Crowden, won two first year apprentice categories at South West TAFE’s first year apprentice awards.
Kye was named best first year fabricator, as well as winning the best first year apprentice overall, beating finalists from across all trades to win the Rotary Club of Warnambool East-sponsored award.
Kye says the best part about the job is learning new machinery and problem-solving to meet and overcome new challenges.
Since joining Steel 360 as a mature-age apprentice, Kye’s confidence has skyrocketed with the support of the Steel 360 team.
Steel 360 Manager Chris McGuane agreed that the award was a great achievement for Kye, but the rest of the team could take some credit for supporting Kye’s development.
Chris emphasised that people are the most important part of the business, and getting the team right helps the rest of the business take care of itself.
Earlier this year Steel 360 lost two qualified tradespeople but were able to bring in two mature age apprentices some new people and build a strong team with the business now going from strength-to-strength.