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. Each consortium has identified some or all of these common areas of concern: current workforce skills, a skilled pipeline, recruitment struggles (to the area/industry), resources, work readiness/soft skills, and flexible/affordable access to relevant training.

Under the guidance of the Cluster Partnership Committee, the three main strategies of the planning effort are to:

  1. Explore expansion of the Metals Entry Level Credential Program.
  2. Provide access to on-site, low cost (to employers) skills advancement training for current manufacturing workforce to advance manufacturing skills and attain promotions.
  3. Campaign to change the industry image through outreach to schools, community colleges, business leaders, government leaders, parents, counselors, and the community; being mindful to include the image of Oregon and the Mid-Valley as a viable manufacturing center in these sectors. This may include DVDs, campaign materials, etc.

Now several months into the two-year plan, activities are well under way:

  • The Metals Entry Level Credential Program has been expanded in its use. Currently the Program is being used in nine cities across six counties with high school students and out of school and incarcerated youth.
  • The secondary woods sector is replicating the model by developing a new Secondary Woods Entry Level Credential Program. The Program will include old Secondary Woods training content which will be converted to e-learning. In addition, new hands-on industry-specific exercises are being developed and will be integrated into the training curriculum.
  • Incumbent workforce research is ongoing with the bioscience and food processing sectors to explore needs and the viability of similar approaches for those sectors.
  • Lean / High Performance topics will be embedded in curriculum across industries.
  • A marketing and outreach task force has been developed and will remain in force throughout the rest of the grant period.

    • For more information, please contact Karen Litvin at (503) 581-4272; klitvin@workforce-solutions.net.