Welcome to The Voice of Oregon Manufacturing!
This is your online information center for Oregon's dynamic manufacturing sector. You can find information here, as well as contribute! After you create a free user account, you can submit a helpful document, add a key link or other information about your manufacturing company/consortium or other manufacturing-related organization. To be listed as a resource, visit the resource page for guidelines.
OWIB Manufacturing Committee is Developing an Action Plan
...and we need
your comments!
Over the past few months, members of the OWIB Manufacturing Committee have been collecting input from the field regarding high-priority, doable steps that can be taken, even during this economic downturn, to ensure manufacturers can find the workers with the skills they need. And looking ahead, we know it is a matter of when, not if, large numbers of skilled production workers will be retiring - and technical skill requirements keep increasing.
Please take a few minutes to review the following documents and provide your comments to Audrey S. Theis, Project Manager, by April 9, 2010.
Strategic Planning Event
At a strategic planning event held in Salem, over seventy stakeholders representing manufacturers, education and training providers, workforce boards, economic development, labor, apprenticeship, elected officials, and state agencies provided input regarding priority manufacturing workforce challenges and related issues. Priority challenge areas include:
- Lack of Foundation Skills, especially employability and applied academic
- Negative Public Image/Lack of Career Awareness/Too Few Workers in Pipeline
- Inadequate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Skills
- Workplace Requirements Outpacing Skills of Current Workers
Review and comment on a comprehensive Summary of Input from that meeting.
Planning process
The Manufacturing Committee has been following a strategic planning process, including the development of planning principles, major cross-cutting themes, and identification of possible strategic actions. Planning principles include:
- Criteria: doable/achievable, focused, realistic, practical, requires limited resources, measurable outcomes.
- Reflect "hot buttons" that other manufacturing groups and various stakeholder groups can support. Where can we leverage needed change?
- Implement in partnership with and through, regional manufacturers, workforce boards, education and training providers, and economic development entities.
- When possible, join/lend support to existing efforts where there is already momentum around an issue (as opposed to launching new, parallel initiatives).
Review and comment on the OWIB Manufacturing Committee Planning Process and Update
Based on your comments, the OWIB Manufacturing Committee will develop and circulate for comments a draft Plan of Action by mid-April. It is expected that the Plan will outline both areas of proposed Strategic Action as well as areas for proposed targeted advocacy.
Thank you for your continued interest in, and support of, this important planning process.