Philanthropic organizations in Kanawha and Putnam counties have awarded BridgeValley Community and Technical College and its partner organizations a $45,000 grant to develop the workforce for the regional manufacturing sector. The pilot project addresses a manufacturing crisis and will put 15 properly trained and credentialed unemployed or under-employed participants to work. Target participants will be residents of Kanawha and Putnam counties and must be at least 18 years of age. Interested participants should call BridgeValley Workforce Division at 304-205-6611 for additional information.
BridgeValley and its partner organizations will collaborate to recruit participants, register them for job services, and deliver training to enable them to become certified production technicians (CPT) through the Manufacturing Skill Standards Council (MSSC). Course information on Safety, Quality Practices & Measurement, Manufacturing Production & Processes, and Maintenance Awareness will be included on the MSSC CPT exam. The successful participants will take WorkKeys assessments, learn job-search skills and will be given an opportunity to interview for jobs with local manufactures.
BridgeValley’s employer partners include ICL-IP America / Clearon, Nippon Tungsten, USA, Gestamp, and Precision Services Inc. / Precision Pump & Valve Service, Inc. Non-profit organization partners include Workforce WV, West Virginia Department of Commerce, WV Manufactures Association, Region 2 and Region 3 Workforce Investment Boards, Kanawha Institute for Social Research and Action, Inc. (KISRA), and Human Resource Development Foundation (HRDF) of WV.
The funder of the community initiative is Kanawha Valley Council on Philanthropy (KVCOP), which was revitalized from the previous Community Grantmakers Association, and was established for funders to learn about the community, to share information and knowledge, to leverage and maximize resources, and to expand potential strategies for making more effective grants. The Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation facilitates the KVCOP process.
Background Information on Manufacturing Crisis:
In August 2011, the National Skills Coalition issued a report for the Southern Governors Association on the importance of middle-skills jobs. Middle-skills jobs require more than a high school diploma, but less than a four-year degree. Employers indicate these jobs are the “hardest to fill” and are less likely to be outsourced to foreign countries. In West Virginia, 54% of all jobs in 2009 were middle-skill jobs. Only 45% of the state’s workers are currently trained to the middle-skill level. The demand for these types of jobs will continue to be strong at 48% through 2018, but educational projections for West Virginia suggest that the state is likely to face a continued shortage of middle-skill workers through 2025. The manufacturing industry in the greater Kanawha Valley relies on middle-skills workers.
In a 2010 Sloan Center survey, 134 small, medium and large manufacturing companies in the United States reported that there is a lack of competent job applicants; there are low skill levels of new employees; there is a loss of knowledge transfer from experience to less experience employees; and, the pool of inevitable retirees in the sector has swelled by 24.4% in operation skills. The percentage of workers on production lines aged 55-64 increased significantly from 2000-2007, as did the workers over the age of 65. The report noted the median cost of replacing employees in the manufacturing sector is $5,000 per employee. Manufactures in the Kanawha Valley report the replacement cost per employee is much higher. Local companies are also confirming the difficulty in finding a competent workforce from which to hire. A Workforce WV website on labor market statistics documents the manufacturing industry is rebounding form its recent decline. In fiscal year 2013 Kanawha County reported 1,679 openings for production worker jobs paying $18.61 per hour or $1,184.31 per week and only 49 people applied for the jobs.
Employers, who can’t find workers with middle-skills and proper credentials, will seek qualified workers from other locations. Furthermore, production work in this sector can no longer rely on lower educated individuals who labor on repetitious low-skilled tasks. Success rests on workers who have the skills to flexibly move from one activity to another and who can work with technologies designed for rapid changes and production processes.
When the local manufacturing workforce is developed, the middle class will grow, the economy will increase and locally based manufacturers will be given a competitive, international advantage.
