Founded in 2023, MATCH provides manufacturing training to both adults and students in the New Haven Public Schools system.
Nicolas Ciminiello
Contributing Reporter

Nicolas Ciminiello, Contributing Photographer
With Manufacturing and Community Technical Hub, or MATCH, founder Marcia LaFemina took the opportunity to open up career paths to people of all backgrounds, by providing paid training in manufacturing, a sector with a vast labor shortage.
The News toured the 26,000-square-foot facility in Fair Haven and spoke with board members and instructors, as well as former and current students, about their experience with the training program.
“The students are actually applying themselves, trying to educate themselves and do something to get a job and get back out into society,” Shirell Bolding, a former student and current administrator at MATCH, said. “It’s very family-oriented. There’s no judgment in here.”
The program is open to all who want to participate. Students are normally there for six to eight weeks, and come in Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. They leave with OSHA 10 certifications in workplace safety, as well as expertise in computer numerical control, or CNC, equipment and a forklift certification.
On Wednesdays, MATCH trains high school juniors from New Haven public schools, teaching them important skills for careers in manufacturing.
This opportunity came as a surprise to LaFemina.
“I mean, we were not planning on teaching the public school system,” she remarked on the program’s growth. “There’s a lot of need that we didn’t know about. People need jobs, and we have machinery and equipment, and there’s people that want to hire them.”
While the program has started on grants, mainly from the American Rescue Plan Act as well as the Community Investment Fund, MATCH has already started completing manufacturing jobs for private companies and the city.
LaFemina hopes to make MATCH self-sufficient by using the money from contracts to pay their trainees, who receive minimum wage, as well as for staff and equipment.
“Right now we’re purely living off grants. That is not the model for success. The model is to be self-sufficient in just a few years,” LaFemina said.
MATCH has also been contacted by other school districts, as well as refugee groups, to enroll new trainees. The program combines paid skills training with help during the job search, from interview preparation and transportation to resume blasting.
David de los Santos, originally from Bridgeport, heard about the program from his neighbor.
“I’m actually going to college for manufacturing next month, and I decided to come here to get a head start. But while I’m here, they’ve actually offered job placement, as I’ve been looking for part-time work to go along with my college classes,” de los Santos, whose last day with the program was Thursday, said. “Graduating now with all these new skills, I’m very pleased with what I got engaged in.”
A number of former and current students were present at the facility, and mentioned recommending others in their life or being recommended themselves. The program has doubled in size since its founding in August 2023, from 12 full-time students to 26.
In the spring, MATCH is anticipating adding welding to its curriculum, and expanding transportation access for its students.
Match is located on Mill Street, in the neighborhood of Fair Haven.
Interested in getting more news about New Haven? Join our newsletter!