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 MSSC COMMUNITY NEWS
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Statewide MSSC deployment in Alabama
According to
Business Alabama, "the Alabama Community College System hired Jeff Lynn in October as executive director for Workforce and Economic Development. Before that he was the head of the state of Louisiana's LED FastStart workforce training program, for which he worked since 2008. His first months in his new job were spent visiting campuses around the state and the companies they serve."
Jeff believes in having a strong manufacturing base throughout the state and a better certification program through the two-year college and dual enrollment high schools. One of the immediate goals is the
implementation of the national standards and certification program offered by the Manufacturing Skills Standards Council.
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KY Manufacturing Center anniversary report on impact of MSSC
On May 15th, the Kentucky Manufacturing Career Center (KMCC) celebrated its 4th anniversary and 1000 job placements with a reception including Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer. Over the past four years, KMCC - the Louisville Workforce Investment Board's first industry-focused career center - engaged over 100 employers in the process of guiding industry-specific career services and training so that job seekers would have a better chance for the region's manufacturing jobs.
The CPT program has been a key component to the training that takes place at the center. The KMCC issued over 1,700 modular CPT certificates, and fully certified over 300 CPT graduates. The 1000th job placement, to Bigelow Tea in Louisville, was a CPT grad.
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May 2017 MSSC Student of the Month
 Congratulations to
Ashley Liebig from John Wood Community College for being selected as MSSC's May 2017 Student of the Month!
Ashley earned her full CPT certificate from John Wood Community College during the summer of 2014. As a student she studied Manufacturing Technology and graduated in the spring of 2016 with her Associates in Applied Science. Ashley was able to accomplish all of this while she was also working and taking care of her daughter. Ashley said "earning certifications step by step helped me earn my degree and a diverse skill set that makes me a more valuable employee." Before graduating Ashley already had a job offer that doubled her income with Knapheide, a nationally well know truck bed and body manufacturer in Quincy, IL.
Ashleyput incredible work into earning her MSSC Certifications. While taking classes, working, and raising her daughter she was still able to become a Certified Production Technician through MSSC and graduated on the Dean's list with John Wood Community College.
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| POLICY NEWS |
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Perkins Reauthorization Bill introduced
Early this month, the
CTE Excellence and Equity Act
, was introduced in a bipartisan effort to reauthorize the Carl D. Perkins Act (H.R. 5587). The
bill would "
provide federal funding for partnerships between school districts, employers, and institutions of higher education... that integrate high-quality career and technical education (CTE) programs into high schools" according to a press release from Senator Kaine's office.
As a result, on
May 16th
2017, MSSC, along with more than 50 other companies, signed and sent a
letter
to the Ranking Members of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce urging the reauthorization of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act. This letter listed recommendations of improvements to the act that would produce a more effective outcome with the money allocated. Those among the Signatories include NAM Certification System partners, e.g. MSSC, American Welding Society, and ACT, Inc.
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| JOB TRENDS |
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Snap-On CEO on the importance of manufacturing
In a May18th Fox Business News interview, Snap-On CEO, Nick Pinchuk makes a great contribution to public understanding of the importance of manufacturing and the value of certifications to the American economy. No CEO is more articulate in describing the "Real American Dream" and the dignity of work, especially by the nation's "makers and fixers."
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Automation is key to more U.S. jobs
 According to a report from the Reshoring Initiative, "There has been much speculation recently as to the ability of U.S. manufacturing to create jobs - particularly in view of increased automation displacing workers."
The Reshoring Initiative recognizes the automation trend and that returning jobs will be, on average, higher skilled and fewer than when the work was lost to offshore.
Please view the
Reshoring Initiative article t
o find some answers as to how companies and policy makers plan for increased automation and what will be the impact on jobs.
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EPI report refutes negative impact of automation on jobs
 On May 24th, the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) published a well-researched study entitled, "There is No Evidence that Automation Leads to Joblessness or Inequality." It is noteworthy that this conclusion comes from EPI, a Washington DC think tank well known for proposing public policies that protect and improve the economic conditions of low- and middle-income workers and assesses policies with respect to how they affect those workers.
Key findings from this report include: (1) technological change and automation have NOT been the main forces driving wage stagnation and inequality; (2) while robots and automation have displaced jobs in some industries they have not lead to overall joblessness; (3) automation has been slower over the past 10 years; (4) while automation displaces certain jobs, it also creates other, offsetting jobs.
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CNN reports negative impact of "Skills Gap" on wages
 On May 9th, CNN reported 5.7 million jobs openings, near a record high. The bad news is that, "n
ot all employers can find the skilled workers they need. Experts say that such a high number of job openings is due partially to a gap between the job skills employers demand and the skills job seekers have."
CNN attributed the reluctance of employers to hire and pay higher wages to the skills shortage.
"Many professions -- such as electricians, carpenters, waste management collectors -- are in short supply. With limited workers, employers are forced to hike up wages for those positions to retain or recruit new employees."
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WSJ reports rising wages but a growing worker shortage
According to a May 6th Wall Street Journal article, "The April jobs report showed a healthy rebound from the March dip, and more important a tightening labor market that has some messages for policy makers. A shortage of workers in much of the country could soon put a restraint on economic growth."
"The number of Americans working part-time for economic reasons also fell by an enormous 281,000 in April to 5.3 million. These are people who would have preferred to work full-time if they could, and they are best understood as the economy's readiest available labor supply. Over the past year this number has fallen by 698,000, which means there are fewer workers for business to call on.
These macro-numbers are consistent with what we keep hearing from CEOs of large and small businesses around the country. They have openings but finding workers with the right skills who can pass a drug test isn't easy."
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New NAS report: "Building America's Skill Technical Workforce"
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine has just published a comprehensive, 238-page report, covering most facets of technical workforce development: challenges, labor market patterns, public policy, U.S. system, key lessons, findings and recommendations. The central finding:
"The U.S. needs a skilled technical workforce to remain competitive in the global economy and to ensure that the nation's workers participate in nation's economic growth...Notably, rigorous evidence indicates that the returns on investments in technical skills in the labor market are strong when students successfully complete their training and gain credentials sought by employers."
MSSC recommends this report to anyone wishing to have a sound grasp of the multiple challenges and opportunities involved in upskilling the American workforce.
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