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May 2017 • SMT Magazine 71 ship styles and embrace more of the coaching leadership types. McDonnell: How do you attract millennials to join the company? Phelps: We actually do not target millennials specifically. However, they do seem to gravi- tate to our manufacturing facility. We offer op- portunities for those who are unsure or sure of their career paths with entry level positions and opportunities to grow with the company. This grow your own approach has worked quite well for a lot of our employees – especially for those millennials who are willing to learn about PCBA manufacturing and work hard. McDonnell:Thank you very much, Shelly. Phelps: Thank you. SMT Davina McDonnell is the director of marketing at Saline Lectronics. To read past columns, or to contact her, click here. HIRING, TRAINING AND RETAINING MILLENNIALS changes, which in our industry is a huge plus. They can help us stay innovative with new ideas that the older generation never thought possible. They are more open-minded to pos- sibilities. They embrace change, and therefore, they look for fast and constant improvements. They seem more willing to work in groups and communicate constantly. They want to be chal- lenged and are not willing to settle for the ad- age "that's how we have always done it." They want to be engaged with process improvements and implement them quickly, which will help us stay competitive. McDonnell: The older generation will eventual- ly vacate many leadership positions. Do you think millennials have the patience and perseverance to become leaders? Phelps: Yes, there are coaching opportunities available to show them the benefits of patience to persevere in the long run. Strategies can be taught to create understanding with the ratio- nale behind the decision-making process. If we implement succession planning now, they will be ready and we could increase their patience and perseverance to become great and success- ful leaders. They prefer less aggressive leader- During the IPC APEX EXPO 2017 event in San Diego, Califor- nia, SMT Xtra's Alexandra Stovin, marketing and public relations manager, and Paul Pittman, sales manager for the United States and Canada, speaks with Pete Starkey, technical editor at I-Con- nect007, about their company's expansion plans in the U.S. and the benefits they offer their customers. With offices and factories in the UK, Hungary, Spain, China, and now the United States, SMT Xtra has an established reputation within Europe as one of the top providers of SMT equipment with one of the largest available stock lists. Founded by its Direc- tors Susan and Sean Cassidy, the company is cele- brating its 10 years in the industry this year. The company recently ex- panded into the United States. According to Pittman, the one big advantage to being inside the US is offering the same great prices they offer in the UK, while saving customers the transatlan- tic shipping time. "When we ship and I hold it in stock inside the U.S., duty claims don't have to be done by companies, something which we do in-house," he added. And Pittman is bullish of the SMT industry in the U.S. right now. "I would say it is going to grow more in strength right now in the U.S., in my per- sonal opinion." Read The Full Interview Here SMT Xtra Discusses Expansion Plans in the U.S.