j.w. hume known as the maker's coalition it promotes a trade of industrial sewing and hires as apprentices dunwoody students. dunwoody's six-month course costs just over $4200. many students like larry receive grants to defray the costs. they confirmed regional firms would need regional hires over the next 6 to 18 months and more over the next seven years as retirement will claim 50% of their workforce. the first class hitting snags, though. j.w. hume vice president saying the new hires needed more work. >> the first three brought in from the program, we really saw a need to have highly skilled more refined skills for industrial sewing for leather. >> reporter: with employer's feedback dunwoody altered the course. students now spend more time at the machines, less time on the books. its placement rate is 90% and graduates earn an average hourly wage of $14.46. but for larry the new skills and job are priceless >> it makes you feel proud when you see a finished product. it looks real good and yo

the vice president of j.w. humefirst hires weren't quite ready for the job. >> the first three we brought in from the program, we really saw a need to have some highly skilled, more refined skills for industrial sewing for leather. sewing on leather, what we do here, is a different skill set. >> the dean has listened to the employers and they have altered the course. the students get less time on the books, more time on the machine, learning to work with different fabrics, make different stitches, and they are taking courses like upholstering and machine maintenance. the placement rate? 90% so far and just who they are placing is the next part of the story, coming up on "street signs." tyler, back to you. >> terrific. thank you very much. >>> ink magazine's editor in chief has been listening in to mary's report. inc recently conducted a survey on the outlook for small business in 2014. the magazine concluded that entrepreneurs are feeling optimistic about the new year. i just noted that of the 5,000 small business f

j.w. hume found itself in that situation two years ago. floors where they make high-end leather goods and luggage. back then, two years ago, the company's former ceo, jen guerrino says the company faced a labor shortage as the company began to take off. >> at one point it was strangling our growth. we had to slow down our sales plan as a result of that. >> since 1904, j.w. hume made its products here in the u.s. over the last half century, most u.s. apparel and textile firms have been sending their work overseas to cheaper labor markets. the result, two generations of workers who don't have the skills needed to be an industrial sewer. now more u.s. companies are bringing the wok back home. to train the sewers j.w.hulme needed, they reached out to dunwoody technical college. talks with regional companies found at least 90 jobs would be available in 6 to 18 months and many firms expected to replace 50% of their staff who had hit retirement age over the next three to seven years. >> they wanted three to ten jobs each. so many different areas