Patrick & Henry Community College (P&HCC) recently met with SME, the national nonprofit committed to accelerating new manufacturing technology adoption and building North America’s manufacturing talent and capabilities, and other Presidents from each of the educational institutions participating in the Manufacturing Imperative – Workforce Pipeline Challenge (MI-WPC) to discuss strengths and challenges in addressing the industry’s workforce shortage and skills gap crisis.
The MI-WPC is a three-year pilot program with a goal to attract 1,000 individuals at each of the initial participating community and technical colleges annually, resulting in 75,000 or more qualified workers in pursuit of manufacturing careers. The estimated economic impact of growing the industry’s workforce is an estimated $6 billion.
Launched in Fall 2023, the program combines the industry and workforce expertise of SME with the educational programs and innovations of a select group of U.S. community and technical colleges, including Patrick & Henry Community College. “Through this collaboration, the initiative is building awareness of careers in manufacturing, optimizing workforce systems, and accelerating the education and skill development needed to place individuals in jobs making family-sustaining wages”, said Jeannine Kunz, chief workforce development officer, SME.
“We are thrilled to host a series of both President’s Advisory Council and Manufacturing Association Advisory Council meetings to progress this public and private sector initiative and keep the momentum moving forward,” said Dr. Deb Volzer, government and workforce partnerships director for SME, who is leading the MI-WPC initiative. “Additionally, we regularly bring together those implementing the initiative at each institution in our “Champion” meetings where best practices are identified and shared.”
Innovative solutions for attracting students in STEM related programs, developing and deploying curriculum aligned to the needs of local industry, changing the narrative around manufacturing, and deploying strategies to build stronger relationships with school districts will be shared nationally to grow local economies, reduce barriers to employment, and fill vacant manufacturing jobs.
