The National Association of Manufacturers annual State of Manufacturing tour kicked off in Troy and Pontiac on Monday, Feb. 12.
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Jay Timmons, president and CEO of the association, gave a keynote speech at Automation Alley in Troy to local business and technical education leaders before touring the Oakland Schools Technical Campus in Pontiac with Gov. Rick Snyder.
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The tour will visit seven other states over the next two weeks, but kicked off in Michigan because it’s ground zero for the manufacturing story in America, said Timmons.
“For manufacturers, it’s not about politics or personality or process. It’s about policy. The policies of the last year have produced tremendous results for manufacturers. That’s a fact,” Timmons said in his keynote speech.
“But most importantly, it’s about the people who make things-and providing the best environment for their success. As the business climate improves, the need to fill jobs grows. So, there’s another challenge before us: building the modern manufacturing workforce.”
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There’s a need for 364,000 workers in today’s manufacturing industry, but the association expects that need to grow to about 3.5 million over the next seven to eight years. It’s estimated that about 2 million of those jobs will go unfilled due to a lack of skilled workers, according to a study from Deloitte and the NAM’s Manufacturing Institute.
Timmons said he’s optimistic about the state of manufacturing in America.
“It’s an exciting time as we watch the shifting of jobs into new types of jobs in modern manufacturing,” Timmons said.
Such as robotics, artificial intelligence, blockchain processes and new innovations in computing.
In Pontiac at the Oakland Schools Technical Campus, Gov. Snyder and Timmons toured labs and spoke with students who are looking to go into manufacturing after graduation. Students shared stories of success they’ve seen from the technical school’s programs and projects they’re currently working on, from robotic hands to welding projects.
“It’s awesome to be here and to look at their programs,” Gov. Snyder said. “It’s incredible to see these young people receiving job offers.”
At the end of the tour, Gov. Snyder declared Feb. 12 “Creators Wanted Day,” named after a campaign started by the National Association of Manufacturers in 2017 to attract new workers to the industry.
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