Exciting Manufacturing Workforce Initiatives Underway in Oregon

Over the past year, more than a dozen manufacturing-related workforce initiatives have been launched across Oregon. This year, the Voice of Manufacturing website will focus on telling their stories. This will allow stakeholders from various regions to get information about exciting initiatives underway in other areas, avoid reinventing the wheel, and leverage scarce public resources.

Featured in this edition are four groundbreaking initiatives.

Lane County Manufacturers Take Steps to Address Coming Skills Shortages

Despite the current economic situation, Lane County manufacturers realize that there are still skills shortages looming, particularly in their technician level workforce (machinists, CNC operators, welders, drafters, engineering technicians and electricians). Sixty seven percent of the area’s manufacturing workforce is over the age of forty five.

Mid-Willamette Manufacturing Consortia Unite to Address Common Workforce Issues

The Enterprise for Employment and Education (Marion, Polk, Yamhill Counties) and the Linn, Benton, Lincoln Workforce Investment Board received a Cluster Partnership planning grant to continue efforts to develop workforce solutions for five regional industry consortia – bioscience, food processing, metals, secondary woods, and high performance/lean manufacturing.

Northern Willamette WIRED Initiative Offers Manufacturers Free Occupational Profiles

As part of the Workforce Innovation for Regional Economic Development (WIRED) initiative in the northern Willamette Valley, several community colleges are offering manufacturers FREE occupational profiles to better understand the workforce needs of regional employers. One of the benefits of participating: reducing the high hidden costs associated with poor hiring decisions, including those for lost production, turnover, rehiring and additional training.

Oregon Career Readiness Certificate (CRC) Initiative Can Benefit Manufacturers

Ask most Oregon manufacturers about the search for qualified, trainable manufacturing employees, and they may tell you that it takes more than HR — it takes equal parts FBI and ESP. But, the Oregon Career Readiness Certificate (CRC), in affiliation with the National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC), is at work to change that.