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Perkins to remain in President's "skinny" Budget for DoEd
According to the summary of the President's "skinny" 2018
budget
from the Committee for Education Funding (CEF),
the Office of Career and Technical Education (Perkins program) is not going to be cut, which is good news for the whole MSSC community.
The budget doesn't yet indicate the proposed spending levels for Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) state grants.
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Lieutenant Colonel Gerald Lemons joins MSSC as Master Trainer for CLT instructor training
Lieutenant Colonel Gerald Lemons earned his CLA/CLT in 2011 and was soon after designated as a CLT Master Trainer. He has trained several hundreds of CLA/CLT students over the past five years and Train the Trainer courses for South Texas ISD's. He retired from military service in 1991 after having served in numerous command and staff assignments in the U.S, Germany and Viet Nam.
Included in those assignments was service as an Air Field Commander in combat and Director of Mission Operations at the Richmond Depot, Lexington-Bluegrass Army Depot during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm where he was responsible for the raw material procurement, manufacturing and shipping of ammunition to the Middle East Forward Operating Bases.
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Neither robots nor automation are the problem: Too little work power is
 According a recent EPI article, "T
he fear of job-stealing robots has been recently stoked in the media and pundits frequently refer to automation as a key driver of long-term middle-class wage stagnation. But are robots actually transforming the labor market at an unprecedented pace? Nope-in fact, the opposite is true."
"First, it's important to note that technology and automation have consistently transformed the way work gets done. So, technology itself is not a problem. Robots and automation allow us to increase efficiency by making more things for less money. When goods and services are cheaper, consumers can afford to buy more robot-made stuff, or have money left over to spend on other things. When consumers spend their leftover cash on additional goods and services, it creates jobs. These new jobs help compensate for the jobs lost to automation. But are robots now eroding jobs and replacing human labor at a faster pace that the economy can't absorb? Again, no."
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NIST Report on Economic Benefits of Automation
 To get a broader perspective and determine the most beneficial areas of focus for specific, quantifiable improvements in productivity attributable to advanced manufacturing technologies, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) analyzed data collected through extensive interviews and surveys with researchers, manufacturers, developers and other stakeholders. The analysis resulted in studies that identify the critical technical barriers to the adoption of specific manufacturing technologies. The studies also estimate the positive economic impacts of eliminating those obstacles-which NIST says would total more than $100 billion in annual savings.
It's not surprising that three of these studies focus on technologies covered regularly by Automation World due to their relevance across the discrete, process and batch manufacturing industries. These three technology areas are additive manufacturing, advanced robotics and automation, and smart manufacturing. Those technologies have been included in the MSSC Production Skill Standards since the 2015 edition.
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 MSSC COMMUNITY NEWS
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The Great Lakes Mfg. Council (GLMC) Survey - Please Respond
 A request for MSSC Community! Please review and take the survey below.
T
he future of NAFTA is viewed as one of the critical issues to manufacturers in the Great Lakes region. As the NAFTA conversations among negotiators and policy-makers ramp-up, the Great Lakes Manufacturing Council (GLMC) will convey manufacturers' vi
ewpoints about the trade agreement to key decision-makers and influencers.
T
h
e GLMC feels that the way to reach the manufacturing community is through respected organizations
s
uch as yours, and our Board is asking that you post the following link to your home page as soon as possible
.
Please click on the following Survey Link to participate!
Responding to this survey will demonstrate your interest in this vital issue and encourage your members to respond. Please also mention it in any communications that you have with your members during the survey period, which runs until March 24th.
We will share the results with you and also keep you abreast of important NAFTA developments as the process unfolds.
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Bloomberg News cites use MSSC CPT by KentuckianaWorks
 According to a recent Bloomberg article, "Donald Trump promises to bring factory jobs back to the U.S. from overseas, but many blue-collar workers are hurt more by a lack of skills than by globalization. Unskilled assembly-line work has been replaced by so-called advanced manufacturing jobs that require some computer, information technology, or other technical knowledge".
Fortunately, programs like the "KentuckianaWorks, a regional job-services group that offers education and training courses and connects students with prospective employers, helped James Michael Logsdon, a Louisville auto mechanic, who hadn't been in a classroom in 40 years learn something new. In five weeks, he got Certified Production Technician (CPT) training and was hired weeks later at Atlas Copco AB, the Swedish tool-and-equipment maker."
"To ensure that its curriculum meets employers' needs, KentuckianaWorks, which has an annual budget of about $700,000, enlisted local manufacturers, including Cardinal Aluminum, Ford Motor, and Kellogg, to help design two training programs: the five-week CPT course and a basic two-week version.
Both programs are intensive and have trained people age 18-60. Only 56 percent of those who start one stick with it to the end, but those who do usually find jobs quickly. Since 2014, when the training was launched, 973 graduates have been hired at partner companies at an average salary of about $13 an hour. Cindy Read, deputy director of KentuckianaWorks, says most are entry-level production jobs, "but if you've had the discipline to train and get credentials, and then you stick it out on a job and are willing to learn, you can move up quickly."
Please click here for the full Bloomberg article.
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The Hoosier Jobs Experiment - Indiana tries to certify skills
 According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, "
President Trump campaigned on bringing opportunity to American workers, many of whom haven't had much luck since the recession, and some good ideas are coming out of the states. One project to watch is in Indiana, which is considering grants that would help Hoosiers learn new skills that are in high demand.
"A bill that recently passed the Indiana House would create a "Workforce Ready" grant program, which would pay tuition for certain certificate programs. The state would pay for what financial aid doesn't cover and finance either part-time or full-time education. The bill only includes types of "high-value" certificates, a distinction the state's higher education commission could bestow to programs based on wage and employment data."
"The number of certificates awarded in Indiana reached almost 12,000 last year, according to a February report from the state higher education commission, and that's more than double the figure for 2011. Half of the recipients used the certificate as a leg up into an associate's degree. The surge in credentials is in part because certificates are cheaper, usually take less time than degrees and are tailored to employable skills such as engineering or nursing."
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MSSC CPT Certification on the rise in Florida
In Florida, community organizations are working with economic development organizations to provide MSSC CPT Training for their clients. Given the statewide need for skilled manufacturing workers, many of the participants of these programs are securing jobs in manufacturing facilities and are now part of the Florida's manufacturing workforce.
Recently, the Economic Development Commission of Florida's Space Coast (EDC) has aligned with eight local churches to celebrate recipients of MSSC CPT Certifications. The EDC and a local group called The Pastor's Community Alliance had nine graduates with CPT and IPC soldering certification. Six of the nine received jobs at a local manufacturing company.
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Ohio legislation enables teens to work in mfg. and logistics plants
 A recent Ohio Revised Code (ORC) legislation will enable
underage teenagers to work in OH manufacturing plants and logistics distribution centers under special conditions and provisions. This is a valuable development for the use of MSSC in secondary schools since high school students will be able to participate in internships at manufacturing and logistics plants and even begin fulfilling careers in manufacturing and logistics before they are 18 years of age.
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March 2017 MSSC Student of the Month
 Congratulations to Terry Hamilton from the Pickaway-Ross Career and Technology Center for being chosen as MSSC's March 2017 Student of the Month!
Terry was an Industrial Maintenance student at Pickaway-Ross during the 2015-16 school year. In the Industrial Maintenance program Terry earned many certifications in Electrical, Mechanics, HVAC, Plumbing, and so on. He also completed all of the MSSC CPT requirements leading to MSSC certification.
Terry did well in all of his studies and was well-liked by both his peers and instructors, all the while caring for his family of eight. He was awarded the Outstanding Student Award upon his graduation. Terry recently started a new job working for the City of Circleville Water Department as a Maintenance Technician. Congratulations, Terry!
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