Skill up: Training workers in welding, advanced robotics, assembly lines, and more

Manufacturing would be nothing without the people in offices and on plant floors to manage supplies, run assembly lines, build things, observe quality and, in short, do the work. Yet, qualified manufacturing workers are perennially in short supply. This digest covers recent initiatives, public-private partnerships, and educational efforts to train and source the next generation of manufacturing workers.

Central Oregon Community College held its first Manufacturing and Trades Fair in Redmond, Oregon on February 19. According to the college’s website, the free event connected community members with local machining, welding and maintenance employers. According to Central Oregon Daily, the fair received support funds from the Department of Labor and the state of Oregon and included mock interview sessions as well as real ones aimed at filling open jobs.

The Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development announced it would launch a 2-year, $4.3 million investment program for expanding robotics and advanced manufacturing education using the state’s Manufacturing Innovation Fund. Programs funded will include FIRST Robotics and VEX Robotics, connecting them to curriculum pilots to integrate robotics learning into classrooms, as well as Manufacturing Careers Roadshows, an event series meant to simulate and pique interest in manufacturing careers.

The Samuel Ginn College of Engineering at Auburn University announced February 13 it would spend $15 million on a new laboratory for interdisciplinary collaboration and research in advanced manufacturing. In a statement, the college said the money would include making Auburn’s Analytical, Innovation and Manufacturing Laboratory, “the largest student-run makerspace in the country,” even larger. Once expansions are finished, the AIM Lab will take up a total of 16,000 square feet.

The CNY One Network for Regional Advanced Manufacturing Partnerships (ON-RAMP) and New York governor Kathy Hochul announced February 17 the launch of a first cohort of workforce training in Syracuse, New York. The ON-RAMP initiative targets under-employed workers and prepares participants for careers in advanced manufacturing and building trades. According to the February 17 statement, the first such cohort will be trained at a temporary location while the permanent CNY ON-RAMP building is under construction.

Jacksonville State University is set to receive $8.5 million for the Alabama college’s Center for Manufacturing Support and Additive Manufacturing Training and Innovation Center, local news site WBRC 6 reported February 18. The money comes from the federal government via Congressman Mike Rogers, WBRC said, and includes $1.5 million for the college’s Law Enforcement Training Center as well. In a statement, Jacksonville State President Don Killingsworth said the $10 million total would help expand training for some of the state’s needed workforce bases.