Sunday, June 3, 2012
By PAUL COLLINS – Bulletin Staff Writer
The Dan River Regional Collaborative, a regional work force development group, is taking part in an initiative promoting manufacturing as a career.
Julie Brown, project director with DRRC, said the group is collaborating with Virginia Manufacturers Association’s “Dream It. Do It. Virginia” campaign.
The regional initiative, which will target young people, probably will start this summer, she said. It will involve such things as making video segments and marketing material about products made in southern Virginia (to show in schools), trying to find manufacturers to provide summer camp opportunities, working with manufacturers and school career and technical education officials to make sure the skills and credentials students are obtaining in high school are what manufacturers need employees to have, so they are work-ready or ready with a short amount of additional training.
The goal of the initiative is to strengthen the pipeline for manufacturing, Brown said.
She said nationally, 9 percent of jobs are in manufacturing, but in this region it’s 19 percent. The region covers Henry, Patrick, Pittsylvania and Halifax counties, and the cities of Martinsville and Danville.
A study done for the National Association of Manufacturing showed that parents saw manufacturing as a driver of the economy and a field that offers good wages, but they generally didn’t want their children going into it, Brown said.
Among the “opportunities” she sees for this region are the need for more cross training in certain areas, the need for “stackable credentials” (various industrial or trade credentials that would add together and move one toward an associate degree), as well as opportunities to work with employers to promote internships and other hands-on learning opportunities for high school and college students.
In the last couple decades, she said, there has been an emphasis on “pushing people to college. Now we’re seeing the ramifications. K-12 skilled trades training programs have really suffered, with limited funding, she said.
Many trades are good occupations, are “self-sustaining” and don’t require four years of training, Brown said.
The greatest manufacturing work force development need is education beyond high school but less than an associate degree, she said.
She has heard of workers being needed in such areas as industrial maintenance, precision machining and welding, she said.
A number of reports and officials also indicated that the image of manufacturing needs to be improved as a career as manufacturing is becoming increasingly high-tech. Manufacturing jobs increasingly are requiring computer, multi-craft and problem-solving skills, in addition to the ability to work with your hands, several officials said.
A lot of people associate manufacturing with dirty, smokestack companies, but now it’s pleasant work, said Jeff Kohler, executive director of Genedge Alliance. According to its website, Genedge Alliance is a network affiliate of NIST-MEP, a national network of more than 59 affiliate centers, bringing enterprise expertise to more than 149,000 businesses across the United States.
Kohler said companies are going more and more into advanced manufacturing, which involves such things as use of technology and use of innovation.
Manufacturing employees need to be able to work with computers, technology, to be continually making improvements, looking for innovative ways to produce products and provide new products to clients, he said.
Often people need to have some type of certification to move into new roles, he added.
A lot of manufacturing of commodities has gone offshore. Specialized, higher tech and more-designed manufacturing have remained here, Kohler said. “We have seen a little ‘reshoring,’ where some offshore jobs have returned.”
Kohler thinks “we have seen a bottoming out” in manufacturing and believes there will be an improvement in manufacturing domestically.
Across the country, the majority of manufacturers say they are unable to hire workers with skill sets they need, he said, adding that education is key to address that.
Rolls Royce’s decision to locate near Petersburg was “extremely dependent” on being able to work with community colleges to provide training in advanced aerospace manufacturing, he said.
Kohler said as the New College Institute progresses and Patrick Henry Community College continues to focus on the needs of the community, he thinks that will help improve capabilities of this area’s work force.
He said the “Dream it. Do it. Virginia” initiative is trying to help address the important issues of manufacturing skill set and the image of manufacturing.
Katherine DeRosear, director of work force development for the Virginia Manufacturers Association (VMA), said for the West Piedmont Workforce Investment Area, the largest demand will be in the middle skills of manufacturing, requiring more than a high school degree but less than a college degree. She said 82 percent of the region’s annual openings will be in middle skills jobs.
Multicraft training, or being trained in multiple things, and being able to use technology are important, she said.
“In 2009, the Virginia Manufacturers Association (VMA) and Virginia Industry Foundation (VIF) launched Dream it. Do it. Virginia (DIDIVA) to create capacity at the community level for sustaining, recruiting and expanding the manufacturing industry through a systemic approach to workforce development,” according to an email DeRosear provided.
According to online information, “Dream It. Do It. Virginia” is a free, online resource to opportunities in advanced technology and manufacturing careers in Virginia. The campaign’s website www.dreamitdoitvirginia.com gives visitors a better understanding of advanced technology and manufacturing careers; types of skills required to obtain positions in these fields; opportunities available in Virginia; information about and links to training that will provide participants with transferable skills that are marketable across employers in high-demand industries; and a job board where career seekers can post résumés or search positions listed by employers in the industry.
John Parkinson, CEO of Drake Extrusion, said of the regional initiative, “It’s a very worthy campaign.” He added, “I’m a huge supporter of what they are trying to do.”
He said manufacturing is changing, and this is a traditional manufacturing area. “We’ve got to make sure we have people trained for skills in modern manufacturing.”
Parkinson said he doesn’t think there’s an adequate manufacturing pipeline now in this area.
Since the start of the recession, Drake Extrusion probably has added 40-45 people and is continuing to recruit. He hopes to hire 15-20 more people, increasing the total number of employees added to about 60.
In an interview earlier this month, Parkinson said Drake has struggled to find people with manufacturing backgrounds and with the skill sets needed to work in a manufacturing plant. But if a person doesn’t have the needed skill set, the company will invest in training them.
Drake manufactures polypropylene fiber used mostly for automotive, home furnishing and carpet applications.
Source Article from http://www.martinsvillebulletin.com/article.cfm?ID=33427
