Worcester Business Journal

10 Worcester Business Journal | February 6, 2017 | wbjournal.com Finding the manufacturing workforce Businesses, schools reaching out to traditional students to fill workforce pipeline Manufacturing employment, wages MANUFACTURING EMPLOYMENT AS OF DECEMBER 2016* • U.S.: 12,275,000 • Massachusetts: 251,300 • Worcester metropolitan: 28,200 AVERAGE ANNUAL PAY IN MANUFACTURING, 2015 • Massachusetts: $86,072 • Worcester County: $74,642 *Preliminary data Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics I n the Blackstone Valley, even with its history as the birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution, it can sometimes be hard for par- ents to wrap their heads around manufacturing as a viable career path for their kids. Baby Boomers and Generation Xers hear "manufacturing," and their minds often jump to the loud, dirty factories where they might have worked years ago until those jobs were shipped overseas to lower-cost places like China and Mexico. But this is an area with legacy manu- facturing companies in need of quali- fied employees, especially because the industry is facing a shortage of about 100,000 workers by 2022. The state's vocational schools help to funnel peo- ple through the workforce pipeline, but many of these schools have long wait lists and an increasing number of stu- dents heading off to four-year colleges. "There is a huge misconception that manufacturing is like what it was when I was growing up – old dirty plants, and long work hours, like during the Industrial Revolution," said Paul Lynskey, executive director of the Blackstone Valley Education Foundation. "When you walk into one of the manufacturers I'm dealing with now, they're spotless, with advanced technology. They offer very good pay- ing positions, with multiple career options within them." That is why the latest industry efforts on workforce development focus on tra- ditional high schoolers and adults, rath- er than those already in vocational schools or on a college career path. Starting them young School districts, businesses, and the state government developed a standard- ized credentialing system to help push people through the workforce pipeline. The credentialing system is offered through the Manufacturing Advancement Center Workforce Innovation Collaborative (MACWIC), a grassroots effort from businesses, edu- cational institutions, the government, and the Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership in Worcester The MACWIC curriculum, devel- oped by employers and called the Applied Manufacturing Technology Pathway Certification, is an industry- recognized, stackable credentialing sys- tem that standardizes manufacturing skills training through five levels. Anyone – from a high school student looking for a hands-on job or an older worker in need of new skills – can get MACWIC certification, which, depend- ing on the level, can count towards a certificate or an associate's degree at Quinsigamond Community College. "For high school students, that's a great incentive," said Kathy Rentsch, MACWIC member and dean of the School for Business, Engineering & Technology at QCC. "They're basically doing work in high school that will give them some college credit if they decide to come here." This year, the Blackstone Valley Education Foundation will pilot a Level 1 MACWIC certification program for students in the 11 school districts it represents with the help of a $48,750 grant. The idea is to catch kids who might benefit from a vocational education but couldn't get into the vocation school in their area, and to enhance the manu- facturing workforce pipeline. If the pro- gram is successful, there is interest in bringing it to traditional schools state- wide, said Lynskey. Education/business collaborative MACWIC was established in 2012, as a grassroots collaboration between employers, MassMEP, schools and state officials with the idea of setting stan- dards for manufacturing competencies to make hiring easier for employers, and to expand access to manufacturing training. It has since received approval from the Massachusetts Department of Education. "I could graduate from Assabet [Valley Regional Technical High School] and you could graduate from Blackstone Valley, and we could take an exam and have completely different results, and there was no way to certi- fy," said Tom Wesley, a director of oper- ations strategy at Milford laboratory equipment manufacturer Waters Corp. and head of the MACWIC steering committee. "We tried to standardize the curriculum." There are five levels of MACWIC certification, according to MassMEP. Level 1, which will be offered at Blackstone Valley schools, teaches shop math, blueprint reading, and safety, to name a few skills, and prepares people for jobs as entry-level assemblers or warehouse workers, at what Wesley BY LAURA FINALDI Worcester Business Journal Staff Writer P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y The more than 200 member companies, like Saint-Gobain Abrasives in Worcester, see MACWIC as a way to attract a broader range of applicants to manufacturing jobs.

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