Building Our Future
TOGETHER
WORKFORCE INITIATIVES
A top concern facing DRMA members and the manufacturing industry is the lack of a qualified workforce. DRMA faces this challenge head-on by driving and supporting numerous initiatives to promote careers in manufacturing and align workforce efforts across the region.
Student Tours: MFG Day Year-Round
DRMA encourages and helps members conduct tours to ignite students' interest in exciting, high-skill, high-pay, high-tech manufacturing careers.
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If you and your facility fit this criteria:
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You are a manufacturer
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You are tired of having trouble recruiting talent and are ready to take action
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A 13-year-old would walk into your facility and say, “Wow, this is cool!”
Then:
Host tours for students, educators, and parents to see first-hand that contemporary manufacturing is a vibrant career path and that employers need skilled workers! You can host tours on National MFG Day (the first Friday in October), during Ohio’s Manufacturing Month (October), and on any other day that works for you and your school partners!
Here's what you need to do to schedule your student tour:
1. Register your tour on the MFG Day website - www.mfgday.com
2. Email Shay that you are doing a tour. Members get help with conducting a successful tour and connecting with schools.
Career Awareness Events
DRMA conducts activities with students and educators to expose them to careers in manufacturing. Activities include exhibits during lunchtime at middle and high schools and at career fairs, speaking in classrooms, and hands-on activities during summer camps and other events. DRMA volunteers deliver messages about career paths, wage and salary information, and training and education paths. We partner with Educational Service Centers across the region.
We Need Volunteers
Manufacturers, you can help solve your future workforce shortage by providing a volunteer to work lunchtime career events (called Power Lunches). It takes only a couple of hours and no public speaking is necessary. DRMA staff does the scheduling, the setup, and all the logistics. All volunteers have to do is show up and engage students in conversations about why they like working in manufacturing and, specifically, why they like working for your company! Do you have a young person who might like to talk to students? We need volunteers from every area in the region. Contact Kara if you would like to volunteer!
Certified Manufacturing Associate Training Program
The Certified Manufacturing Associate short-term, online training program, offered in collaboration with Tooling U-SME, is for your new hires or other employees who have little or no experience in manufacturing so that they are more quickly productive for you. This unregistered apprenticeship program provides associates across most manufacturing occupations with a defined training and development plan that includes technical instruction on a broad range of basic manufacturing concepts, on-the-job training, and mentorship, and aligns with the hallmarks of a high-quality program as outlined by the United States Department of Labor. DRMA has a grant that will pay the training cost and the credential assessment fee. Attend an INFO SESSION or contact Kara to learn more.
The CMfgA courses are relevant to a wide range of manufacturing fields, and many of the courses are directly applicable to our environment. The courses are basic enough to not be overwhelming but in-depth enough to give meaningful insight into the subject. Competition being human nature, a few of the students have turned this into a competition to get the highest scores. This tells me that they are enjoying it and learning from it. I see no better way to improve employee knowledge over a range of subjects for the price.
- Joe LaPointe, Quality Systems Coordinator, Valmac Industries
WorkAdvance
The WorkAdvance program is designed to create a pipeline of talent for your entry-level manufacturing positions from our region’s untapped workforce. WorkAdvance is a proven initiative to recruit individuals with no manufacturing experience; it intentionally seeks out those who aren’t currently applying.
We are working with community-based organizations that are recruiting, screening, training, and coaching people to fill your entry-level manufacturing positions.
Attend a free 30-minute Zoom info session CLICK HERE to learn how you can position your company to interview and hire these candidates.
Learn more about the grant that funds this program HERE.
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Workforce/HR Meet Up
Meet Ups are small discussion groups designed to help members build their peer network with other members who are interested in the same topic area in order to share and learn. Topics for the Workforce/HR Meet Up include internships and apprenticeships, funding for training, training resources, recruiting methods, assessments, compensation strategies, compliance issues, and others. Subject matter experts are on hand at each Meet Up. They are free and for members only. LEARN MORE about Meet Ups and why you should attend.
Industry-Recognized Credentials
DRMA is working with educators across the region to incorporate industry credentials into their curriculum, as well as with members to promote the value of the credentials. Credentials include the Manufacturing Skills Standards Council’s (MSSC) Certified Production Technician (CPT); the National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS) credentials; and the American Welding Society’s professional certifications.
What are Manufacturing Industry-Recognized Credentials? And why YOUR company should care.
DRMA members consistently report that their Number 1 concern is that they cannot find workers with the skills required for today’s advanced workplaces. The skills gap is widening as companies scramble to find qualified employees, and new hires who are not the right fit can mean companies losing out after spending hundreds of hours recruiting, onboarding, and training.
The use of manufacturing industry-recognized credentials is one way to help address the skills gap challenge and ensure your workforce is made up of the most qualified employees. Industry credentials ensure that the credential holder has met the industry benchmark for their specific occupational competency. For new hires, industry credentials can be used as screening tools for knowledge, skills, and abilities to do the job well; and for current workers, industry credentials can help bolster their skills and keep them at the top of their trade.
There are many reputable industry-based credentials out there to meet your company’s needs. Some of note include the Manufacturing Skills Standards Council’s (MSSC) Production Technician Certification (CPT); the National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS) credentials; and the American Welding Society’s professional certifications.
Whichever certifications you choose based on your employee skills requirements, your company will be better positioned to identify qualified applicants for open positions and to improve the skills of your existing workforce.
DRMA is working with educators across the region to incorporate industry credentials into their curriculum. Soon, graduates possessing these credentials will be ready for hire..
Training/Education Program Advisory Committees
DRMA staff and volunteer members serve on advisory committees at high schools and colleges across the region to convey the needs of manufacturers and to ensure their curriculum produces graduates with the skills needed by manufacturers.
CONTACT
Shay for more information or to get involved in any of these initiatives.