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66 | DOING BUSINESS IN CONNECTICUT | 2019 CSCU imagined and implemented a strategy to bring diverse partners together to create a strategic workforce development plan for advanced manufacturing. [Photo | courtesy CSCU] Strategic Thinking A CSCU plan to boost manufacturing placement has grown into a statewide movement By Carol Latter In February, Mark Ojakian, president of Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU), announced an exciting new initiative – the "TEAM Works" advanced manufacturing strategic plan, born of the need to train 35,000 students to fill jobs in the sector over the next 20 years. Ojakian said while CSCU's 17 post-secondary facilities schools represent the largest higher education network in Connecticut, its community college-based advanced manufacturing technology centers don't have the capacity to produce the volume of highly skilled graduates that will be required by the burgeoning high-tech manufacturing industry. The TEAM Works plan calls for the close collaboration of "stakeholders across education, government, and industry, including CSCU's colleges and universities, Connecticut's comprehensive and technical high schools, Goodwin and other private colleges, the state's regional workforce development boards, and advanced manufacturers and business organizations, among others." Multiple partners have already signed on, and the momentum is growing. The road to this announcement was an interesting one. In 2016, CSCU landed a $15 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Labor. The grant was intended to boost students' interest in manufacturing careers – and, more importantly, prompt them to enroll in educational programs that would lead to well-paying jobs in an industry that was facing an acute shortage of qualified workers. The state and CSCU had already been working to address that shortage, by implementing advanced manufacturing technology centers and training programs at first one, then four, community colleges – Asnuntuck, Housatonic, Naugatuck Valley and Quinebaug Valley. The grant allowed the state to add three more, at Manchester, Middlesex and Three Rivers. The addition of Farmington's Tunxis College in 2017 made it eight. "The neat thing about the U.S. DOL grant is that it required us to spend a percentage of that money on marketing to attract students," said Mike Kozlowski, executive director of advanced manufacturing for CSCU. CSCU's "Make It Here" marketing campaign was a success, doubling enrollment in 10-month certificate programs from 244 students to 500 in a single year. But when federal funds for marketing ran out, Kozlowski realized that the community college system had a problem. Not only was there inadequate money to continue a major media- based campaign to keep the students coming, but the advanced manufacturing centers were operating in isolation and lacked a coordinated approach to reach overall training and job targets. Kozlowski – then CCSU's chief marketing officer and director of strategic initiatives – mentioned to Chief of Staff Alice Pritchard that CSCU should develop a strategic plan. "Alice said, 'OK, do it.' " When the plan was completed, Pritchard sent it to Ojakian, who approved it in January of this year. Then Kozlowski got unexpected instructions: He was told to implement it, and take everything else off his plate. "I viewed that as a pretty interesting challenge," he said. Actually, the challenge was three-fold: find a place to hold classes, develop a curriculum, and effectively promote it to students. With a new state government in office and talk at the highest political levels about putting Connecticut on "a debt diet," Kozlowski knew that the chances of securing funding for new training facilities was MANUFACTURING