10/31/2022 4:24:25 PM
Today DEED wrapped up Manufacturing Month with an inspiring virtual roundtable event featuring manufacturing industry leaders from across the state.
Governor Tim Walz proclaimed October as Manufacturing Month because manufacturing is the backbone of Minnesota’s economy:
Today’s virtual event, hosted by DEED Commissioner Steve Grove, highlighted the critical importance of manufacturing to Minnesota’s economy. It was also a great opportunity to hear from manufacturing industry leaders from across the state.
Here are some highlights of what those manufacturing leaders shared today.
Traci Tapani, owner of Wyoming Machine in Stacy highlighted the need for accessible and affordable housing and child care to help more people move into the workforce and into manufacturing careers. She also stressed that during our extremely tight labor market we need “all hands on deck,” so more needs to be done bring women, young people, people with disabilities, immigrants and formerly incarcerated people into the workforce.
“There are some businesses in our economy where hiring someone who was formerly incarcerated is difficult, but in manufacturing there is no reason someone who has been incarcerated can’t work in production job and be very successful at it,” she said. Tapani went on to say that Wyoming Machine has several formerly incarcerated people on staff and they are great contributors and co-workers.
Mark Petersen, operations manager at ITW Heartland in Alexandria and president of the Tri-State Manufacturers Association, said one of the biggest hiring challenges manufacturers face is getting parents to support their children in moving into the field.
“When we show the parent and the child around the shop, and ask them, ‘is this what you thought it would look like?’ they say, ‘oh no, look, it’s clean and look at this fancy stuff!’” Petersen said. “Getting the kids in front of our senior machinists that know how to program and set up a run and showing them on the computer how they build a program out of a solid model...that’s what gets them excited.”
Wade Karnes, owner of Zakobe LLC in Bovey and president of the Arrowhead Manufacturers and Fabricators Association, remarked that that, “we need better communication between the [career and technical education] system and manufacturers.” Karnes said area manufacturers are excited about the CTE Jamboree coming up on November 17 at St. Michael-Albertville High School that aims to do just that. Reaching kids in high school is critical to connecting with potential future employees in the area, Karnes said.
Lance Louis, president and CEO of Louis Industries in Paynesville and vice president of the Central Minnesota Manufacturers Association, said youth apprenticeship programs have been hugely successful for his company and that two of his key staff came up through the ranks after starting as youth apprentices. But a challenge is keeping more of the workers they train.
“With a lot of these training programs, us as employers are putting a tremendous amount of resources into training people – for the youth apprenticeship, 50 hours of safety training and 700 hours of youth skills programs – then they leave to go down to metro area for better pay,” said Louis, who is also a member of the Governor’s Workforce Development Board. “I think we need to take a hard look at, how do we keep these people on the job site with the employers that are spending the time and effort training them.”
Les Engel, owner of Engel Metallurgical in Sauk Rapids and president of the Central Minnesota Manufacturers Association, said every manufacturer he talks to is facing the same challenges finding workers with the necessary skills. "If we can figure out a way for people to get this basic training then when they show up they have a chance to be hired,” he said.
George Chapple, training manager at Daikin in Owatonna, agreed that basic skills training is needed both in high school curricula and in community education opportunities. “We did a needs assessment across the board and we’ve identified what are those skills sets, and we incorporated that into our new hire orientation,” he said. "We call it our common skills modules, and that includes hand and power tools, wiring and schematics, blueprint interpretation and precision measurement...common skills almost everyone on the production floor needs to master.”
Steve Kalina, president and CEO at the Minnesota Precision Manufacturing Association in Plymouth, spoke about how automation can be a game changer for even small manufacturers by filling roles where employers can’t find workers and being able to offer higher wages to higher skilled employees they do hire.
“Automation is not replacing jobs, it’s replacing open positions that we can’t fill with people,” he said. “It’s automating the set-up, automating the work holding, automating the inspection…so instead of having a machinist sit and inspect or sit and load, the machinist is focusing on the programming or running the automation or problem solving.” Kalina hopes the state can do more to get the word out about training programs that could help more manufacturers upskill staff to expand automation in their shops.
Nicole Hiller, HR manager at Dotson Iron Castings in Mankato, noted that her company has been participating in the Tour of Manufacturing for many years,and that this year they had 200 high school students come through their metal casting shop. She also shared how community engagement is so important in being a great place to work.
Hiller recounted how Dotson had a fire several years ago that shut down production for five weeks and during that time “we worked with community partners sending out team members to work with nonprofits and team members got paid full work weeks and those folks were committed to that and enjoyed the opportunity to get out and give back to the community they live and work in.”
DEED is working to help address workforce challenges, meet training needs and more.
We are focused on helping connect people who need work with the employers who need them. DEED engaged in intensive outreach around the state through the Summer of Jobs campaign to help showcase the thousands of jobs available throughout Minnesota. DEED also connects eligible job seekers with training they need to help prepare themselves for work in manufacturing through our employment and training programs.
And DEED helps manufacturing employers upskill new and existing employees through Minnesota Job Skills Partnership grants, which provide up to $400,000 for training developed and delivered by an accredited Minnesota education institution to meet specific business needs. Plus, DEED provides funding for employee training in automation through the Automation Training Incentive Program, which provides grants of up to $35,000 to small businesses in the manufacturing industry to train incumbent workers as quickly and effectively as possible on new automation technology.
DEED offers incentives for the creation of good manufacturing jobs through the Minnesota Investment Fund and the Job Creation Fund. Coming soon, DEED will be offering gap financing loans through the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) Automation Loan Participation Program.
View a recording of today’s Manufacturing Month roundtable discussion.
Access DEED’s Small Business Hub.
View Manufacturing Month resources which will live on after October ends.
