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Enterprise Minnesota Magazine - December 2011
HELPING MANUFACTURERS GROW PROFITABLY
2020 Vison
West Central Initiative’s Workforce 2020 grant program gives manufacturers in Minnesota’s west-central region a leg up on training.
In the late 1980s, demographic data collected by the West Central Initiative (WCI) indicated the region faced a possible workforce shortage. At the time, a future dearth of manufacturing workers seemed unlikely, and the data was met with a dose of skepticism.
“Most of the employers in the region didn’t take it very seriously at first because when they put an ad in the paper, they would still get 40 or 50 applicants for every opening that they had,” recalls WCI President Nancy Straw.
But WCI continued to develop a preventive solution. In 1992, it launched Workforce 2020, a program that offers financial support for companies to train their current employees in the evolving skills needed to remain competitive. The program aims to bolster the nine-county region’s economy by developing its current manufacturing and industrial employee base.
Workforce 2020 has since helped to fund training for more than 9,000 manufacturing workers. Its mission is to provide financial support for manufacturing training that is not widely available in post-secondary schools. As such, the types of training eligible for funding change over time.
The program began by training workers how to operate the computer-controlled manufacturing equipment coming into the marketplace in the early 1990s. It then moved on to lean and six sigma, and later, Training Within Industry. Its latest focus is on providing training in geometric dimensioning and tolerancing, or GD&T, which involves creating engineering drawings and three-dimensional, solid models for products.
Enterprise Minnesota has remained a steadfast partner in the program throughout its existence. As a part of the national Manufacturing Extension Partnership network, Enterprise Minnesota connects companies with instructors across the United States. They travel to Minnesota to convey the highest level of skilled training on a specific topic.
“I think [Workforce 2020] really helps encourage manufacturers to look for the next wave of what’s coming—to stay on that leading edge of what is new in manufacturing,” Straw says. “The results, I think, really speak for themselves.”
Statistics show the program is working on multiple fronts. A study conducted by Andrea Lubov, PhD, found that in 2005, participating firms enjoyed a turnover rate of 26.2 percent, while turnover rates for non-participating firms were 54.8 percent. And an Enterprise Minnesota study of 30 participating firms in 2007 and 2008 found that companies increased sales by a total of $15.1 million and reduced spending by $4.63 million.
With proof of success, Straw says WCI plans to continue its Workforce 2020 program for at least the next five years. It also will add a competitive grant round for innovations in workforce training, with details set to be released in January.
©2011, Enterprise Minnesota. All rights reserved.Reproduction encouraged after obtaining permission from EnterpriseMinnesota. Additional Magazines and reprints available for purchase.
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