Oregon Workforce Investment Board Establishes New Manufacturing Committee
SAVE THE DATE: Thursday, December 3, 9 AM – 2:30 PM at Eola Viticulture Center in Salem. The new Manufacturing Committee of the Oregon Workforce Investment Board, chaired by Mark Lewis, president of Woodfold Mfg., Inc. invites you to attend a special session: Manufacturing: Talent IS the Competitive Edge. Mark’s charge: “We have had enough strategic planning; we know the workforce issues that impact manufacturers. The time has come to get everyone on the same page and begin strategic doing!” Plan now to attend this important event.
Manufacturing is critically important to Oregon’s regional and state economies. According to a recent report Oregon Manufacturing: State of the Industry, the Oregon Employment department reports that while manufacturing employment has been flat in recent years, it still comprised 11 percent of jobs and 15 percent of payroll in 2008. And while growth opening may be slow, close to 30,000 new workers will be needed to replace the skilled workers projected to retire over the next decade, mostly in production.
As a result, the Oregon Workforce Investment Board has established a standing Manufacturing Committee that will take on a few targeted key issues impacting the ability of manufacturers to find and retain skilled workers. The Committee is in the process of being formed and will be developing its targeted strategic plan of action, to include measurable outcomes, over the next few months.
What: Manufacturing: Talent IS the Competitive Edge
When: Thursday, December 3, 9AM – 2:00 PM
Where: Eola Viticulture Center, 215 Doaks Ferry Road NW, Salem
Why:
- Share promising practice models operating in Oregon and the manufacturing workforce issues/challenges they are addressing
- Use existing strategies as springboard to discuss and prioritize critical systemic workforce issues impacting manufacturers
- Determine the top three-five issues the OWIB Manufacturing Committee Action Plan should address, to include actionable items, not pie-in-the-sky philosophical feel goods