Upcoming Events
MSSC has invited its community to register for the May 17-18 Coalition for Career Development virtual Summit. A link will automatically be sent the registrant’s email to login on May 17-18, 2022.
UPDATE: The Center has invited the President and the First Lady to speak but is not expecting a reply until shortly before the event. The confirmed speakers to date include a strong lineup of VIPs: Tony Evers, Governor of WI; Martin Walsh, U.S. Secretary of Labor; Nicholas Pinchuk, CEO, Snap-on, Inc.; Dr. Walter Bumphus, CEO & Chairman, American Association of Community Colleges; Ron Busby, President, U.S. Black Chambers, Inc.; Dane Linn, Senior VP, Business Roundtable; Jason Tysko, VP, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation; Dr. Annette Parker, President, South Central College; and CEOs of several national associations and leading national industry certification bodies.
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Spring 2022 Regional Webinar Series on the CPT 4.0 Updates- Register Now!
Join MSSC & your local MSSC Training Solution Provider for informative webinars this month on the updates to MSSC’s signature Certified Production Technician (CPT®) industry-wide training and certification program applicable to over six million front-line manufacturing production workers.
Based on extensive research with leading industry subject matter experts, MSSC has selected a list of nine rapidly emerging, data-intensive, Industry 4.0 technologies that will profoundly influence manufacturing production processes and quality control:
- 5G
- Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT)
- Additive (3D) Manufacturing
- Autonomous Robots
- Augmented Reality
- Data Analytics
- Nanomanufacturing
- Advanced Materials
The implementation of these digital technologies will greatly increase our ability to reshore manufacturing to America. By leveraging a production workforce upskilled to the Industry 4.0 level, this trend will also produce higher levels of productivity, competitiveness and economic growth.
MSSC's goal is to provide CPT 4.0 technicians with a foundational understanding of these technologies on which to build as their companies use them in various ways on the production floor.
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MSSC & Credly Digital Badge Partnership
MSSC has partnered with Credly, the largest online network and delivery platform of digital badges. Credly collaborates with top global training providers, credential issuers, associations and academic institutions that are similarly focused on the power of verified skills.
The MSSC has created electronic badges for all our credentials so certificants can directly access, control and share their verified credentials in both electronic and print format. With one click, certificants can print their personalized credential, suitable for framing or sharing with an employer.
With their verified credential in digital form, certificants now have many new ways to efficiently and securely share this record of their knowledge and skills with current or prospective employers, academic institutions and others. From key social media channels, to direct sharing via e-mail, to the ability to embed a secure link to their MSSC certification in online job applications, MSSC certificants have many more tools to disclose their credential and be discovered by employers.
To learn more about how MSSC certificants can claim their MSSC digital badge or how to sign up as an employer to seek out qualified candidates for your open positions contact info@msscusa.org.
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TEAM-W Women in Manufacturing Event Highlights Future of Women in Manufacturing
MSSC had the privilege of serving as a sponsor for the TEAM-W Women in Manufacturing Event earlier this month at Northeast State Community College that sought to recognize the importance and future of women in manufacturing. The event was part of an initiative between the college and the Kingsport Chamber of Commerce, and was an excellent step in bridging the manufacturing gender gap for those already in the industry and for those seeking to join. Check out this press coverage from the event!
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A Roadmap to Career Readiness: How GPS Education Partners (GPSEd) of Wisconsin is Coupling Work-based Learning with the MSSC CPT 4.0 Curriculum
GPS Education Partners (GPSEd) has been collaborating with local school districts and industry partners for over 22 years to create a pathway for high school students to connect their education with an attainable career, while providing companies with a pipeline of work-ready employees. Work-based learning is at the core of GPSEd’s cornerstone program - a manufactured-centered youth apprenticeship and education program operating across 7 education centers throughout the state of Wisconsin.
As a MSSC Authorized Assessment Center, it is through the Certified Production Technician (CPT) 4.0 Amatrol eLearning that these high school students get added insight into the key concepts needed to properly perform the skills needed for the jobs they are placed in as youth apprentices and for their future career path. Since the founding of GPSEd in 2000, the organization has had over 1200 students go through their community-based programs. Almost 500 students/graduates are fully CPT 4.0 certified and over 1100 students have passed at least one of the four CPT 4.0 modules. In terms of graduates from the program, 95% are working or attending post-secondary education full-time or doing both on a part-time basis.
Additionally, one of the GPSEd work-based learning coordinators, Pierre Couture, recently became authorized to teach and assess the CPT+ credential program making use of the innovative hands-on Amatrol Skill Boss Manufacturing Device, and he highlights one such benefit of having access to a Skill Boss is being able to have a physical representation of the concept being taught. “Being able to actually put your hands on a micrometer and use it to measure parts is infinitely better than just looking at a screen where they show you how to read a Vernier,” Couture says.
Regarding the overall impact of the MSSC programs on GPSEd and its students, Stephanie Borowski, President and CEO shares, “Both the MSSC Certified Production Technician (CPT) 4.0 and the new CPT + Skill Boss programs allow our students to have access to industry valued certifications. These national certifications, coupled together with the work-based learning experiences that our students access on a daily basis, make for a powerful combination of career readiness. As we continue to scale our work-based learning programs across the country, certifications and credentialing (both in manufacturing and in other high demand careers) will continue to be a central element of the GPSEd way.”
Couture adds, “Having our students go through the CPT 4.0 curriculum while engaged in work-based learning gives them an academic background for the industry skills they are developing that are needed in today's workforce.”
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Omnibus Spending Legislation Signed into Law
The $1.5 trillion omnibus spending package which provides full-year funding for the remaining six months of the current 2022 federal fiscal year (FY22) was signed into law. This spending package provides support for federal education and workforce development programs, including the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V). The legislation provides an additional $45 million for Perkins V’s basic state formula grant program (an increase of nearly 3.5 percent). The legislation makes a host of other notable investments to the Career Technical Education (CTE) community, including increased investments in apprenticeship expansion efforts, career education programs at community colleges, and other important funding beneficial to expanding CTE opportunities to more of the nation’s learners.
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ECS Identifies Education Policy Trends in Governors’ Addresses
Forty-four governors have given their State of the State address, signaling their priorities for the upcoming year — and for many, that includes education. More than half mentioned the importance of reopening schools and in-person learning after the closures and hybrid environments caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Some talked about the policy challenges ahead for the P-20 spectrum. In all, Education Commission of the States identified six trends in this year’s addresses.
Read more in this new Special Report, a collaboration with the National Governors Association.
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ED Releases New CTE Fact Sheet
U.S. Department of Education released a new fact sheet highlighting how states and local school districts can make use of funding from the ARP’s Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding to support high-quality CTE programs. In particular, the fact sheet emphasized CTE as a powerful way to reengage students to cultivate high-demand skills needed for jobs of the future. The resource highlighted several states’ efforts to use these resources to develop, expand, or otherwise implement CTE activities as part of their recovery efforts. The fact sheet can be accessed here.
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ARP ESSER Supports Student Reengagement through CTE
The Department of Education released a new fact sheet highlighting how states and school districts are expanding career and technical education (CTE) opportunities. As schools help students address lost instructional time, high-quality CTE programs can be a powerful tool to boost school engagement and on-time graduation.
The American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ARP ESSER) has provided nearly $122 billion to states and school districts to invest in K-12 schools and meet the urgent needs of schools and students as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The new fact sheet highlights examples of how states plan to use relief funds for CTE programs in high schools as part of their work to help students and communities recover.
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DOL and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Sign Agreement
The Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) formalizing their commitment to collaborate in two main areas:
Job Quality, Equitable Job Creation, and Labor Standards: The Departments are partnering to embed provisions in DOT grants that lead to high job quality, the free choice to unionize, and greater diversity in the infrastructure sector.
Equitable and Effective Workforce Development: The Departments are jointly supporting the creation and expansion of high-quality and equitable workforce development programs that connect workers and communities to quality infrastructure and transportation jobs.
This MOU is intended to support the ongoing implementation of the bipartisan Infrastructure and Jobs Act (IIJA) passed last year. A press release on the announcement can be found on the Department of Labor's website.
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50-State Report on Early Postsecondary Opportunities Highlights CTE Learners
Advance CTE, in partnership with the College in High School Alliance, released The State of CTE: Early Postsecondary Opportunities. This 50-state report reveals key findings on how EPSOs serve CTE learners and provides recommendations for state leaders to leverage state infrastructure and collaboration to advance equity in these experiences.
Key findings include:
- Expanding equitable access to CTE EPSOs is a top priority, but challenges remain in supporting access for historically marginalized learners.
- More learner supports are needed to expand equitable access to and success in EPSOs.
- Many states collect data on CTE learner participation in and outcomes from EPSOs but do not report data disaggregated by subgroup and by program.
- States have a critical role to play in improving credit transfer efficiency for CTE EPSOs.
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Glassdoor has compiled a list of the top technical skills and the top nontechnical skills necessary to succeed in this job market. In-demand abilities include familiarity with machine learning and product management.
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Conflict, shortages, inflation affect manufacturers
Manufacturers are struggling with order cancellations, worker attrition, supply chain disruptions and rising prices for energy and materials. "My biggest concern now is that the confluence of Ukraine and the semiconductor shortages and everything else in global logistics will become a demand constraint," says Husco International CEO Austin Ramirez.
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Data: Workers’ eye skilled trades for career change
The large number of workers leaving their jobs during the coronavirus pandemic and starting new careers -- known as the Great Resignation -- has many turning to careers in the skilled trades. Data shows a decline in enrollment in liberal arts colleges, but a rise in two-year construction programs, according to the National Student Clearinghouse.
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DOL Grant Opportunities
$45 million for Strengthening Community Colleges Training Grants which are intended for public and state institutions of higher education and community colleges – individually or as a group– to improve their ability to address equity gaps and meet the skills development needs of employers and workers. The department will award grants of up to $1.6 million for single institutions and up to $5 million for consortiums.
$113 million for the department’s Apprenticeship Building America program, including up to $50 million dedicated specifically for equity partnerships and pre-apprenticeship activities intended to boost enrollment in registered apprenticeship programs. Eligible applicants include nonprofits, labor organizations, public and state institutions of higher education, and county governments with planned awards ranging from $1 to $8 million.
$55 million for the department’s Pathway Home 3 grant program, which is intended to reduce barriers to employment by providing training and employment services to incarcerated individuals before their release from state correctional facilities, or county or local jails. The agency expects to award up to 15 projects ranging from $1 to $4 million each to teach returning citizens foundational skills such as job readiness and job search strategies, and to provide apprenticeships and occupational training leading to industry-recognized credentials.
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Manufacturing Skill Standards Council (MSSC) Website
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