This partnership is co-convened by Upstate Colorado Economic Development and Brighton Economic Development. They originally received a planning grant, and employer surveys conducted during that phase revealed that many employers are implementing aspects of sustainable manufacturing, but many do not pursue sustainability according to rigorous standards or categories of work.

The Manufacturing Coordination partnership is convened by the Pueblo Workforce Region in Colorado. The focus of the initiative is the manufacturing sector in Southern Colorado, with an emphasis on intermediate and high level technical and professional skills development, specifically in the electrical and mechanical maintenance, quality assurance, and operational efficiency occupations.

Meeting the Needs of the Manufacturing Industry

While the Wyoming manufacturing industry employs fewer than 20,000 people in the state, it is a small but vibrant sector. Sensing that the sector lacked a shared avenue for addressing needs and articulating issues and solutions with one voice, a manufacturing focused nonprofit with national ties decided in 2010 to convene private employers and other stakeholders to create such a forum, particularly related to the industry’s well documented skills gap.

South Central PA Food Manufacturers’ Training Consortium

With food processing being such an important part of the regional economy in Lancaster County and South Central PA, the industry became one of the high priority industries for investment by the three workforce investment boards in the area because it was large, it was competitive, and it tended to pay an above average salary. The industry was losing some of its most skilled, older workers through retirement while, at the same time, experiencing the need for more skilled workers because of new technology advances.

Southwest Oklahoma - This example from a health care industry initiative takes the form of a vacancy survey asking employers to identify current and projected needs in specific industries, and includes some background information on the initiative and an invitation to learn more. (The first page includes the outcomes of the survey, survey form is on the next two pages.)

Several samples are attached:

A diagram from the ADTEC program in Arkansas describes the educational pathway involved in pursuing careers in advanced manufacturing.

A detailed report describes the process of mapping and creating career ladders in the extended care industry in Massachusetts.

Sample strategic plans from sector intiatives:

Michigan Emerging Markets Skills Alliance for Tool & Die - Materials from this alliance outline not only the final strategic plan, but the process that the partnership used to develop the plan.