New Equipment Digest ran an article on June 20th titled "Trench Warfare: How to Fight the Skills Gap". The article begins:

"All across the nation, we’re fighting the past: an aging infrastructure, a decaying education system, and outdated job stereotypes. Our future depends on us digging in and going to war with the skills gap."

The article touches on apprenticeship as a weapon to help fight that war. It also includes info on multiple initiatives and resources, like the Get Real Math! classroom videos created by the Northeast Wisconsin (NEW) Manufacturing Alliance to help teachers bring relevance to their math instruction.

 Read the full article here!

On June 15, President Trump signed an Executive Order meant to expand apprenticeships. Click here to read the text of the executive order.

Inside Higher Ed, which covers news of relevance to institutions of higher education, covered the Trump administration's apprenticeship push in a June 14 article titled "New Money and New Players on Apprenticeship". The article does a good job of covering the key points of the initiative. Read the full article here.

A June 18 article in Forbes covered the topic, noting "This New Trump Plan Could Be the Answer to Millennial Job Woes." Read the article here.

The Hill, a popular news source within the D.C. beltway, ran an article by Robert Lerman, founder of the American Institute for Innovative Apprenticeship, that concludes "The president's effors are a good start toward the long-run goals of shifting workforce policy toward successful apprenticeships and away from costlier and less effective programs." Read the full article here.

PRESENTATIONS NOW AVAILABLE!

We've posted downloadable copies of the presentations and related documents from MEATA's 2017 Spring Apprenticeship Conference in our Documents area. Please note that there are two pages of document listings, so be sure to click to the second page to see all of the presentations.

We also have create a Photobucket album slideshow containing pictures from the event.

Thanks to all the presenters and attendees!

An Industry Week article spotlights Toyota's Georgetown, KY, plant's efforts to fill the facilities projected need for tool and die makers. Here's an excerpt:

In 2013, Wally Palen realized he had a “people problem.” Tool and die makers at Toyota’s Georgetown, Kentucky, plant, where he is assistant general manager, were disproportionately reaching retirement age, and replacements were hard to come by.

Looking ahead, the workload was only getting heavier. With a cascade of new vehicle models at Toyota—from the recently introduced to the forthcoming—the need for new dies is currently the highest in 25 years, and projected to grow even more. Yet 36% percent of the Toyota Kentucky’s 200 tool and die makers are already at or near retirement age. The percentage goes up to 43% by 2021.

So the affable Ohio State University graduate—who oversees Toyota’s die manufacturing operation and 19 stamping lines—set about coming up with a contingency plan. He estimates he’ll need 52 more toolmakers by 2021, but will only be able to find 15 through traditional HR.

The rest? He’s angling for 32 of them to come through a new apprentice program he got going with “brute force” (his words), and five from retraining promising production team members.

Read the rest of the story here!

Markees Drain, 22, realized that baby boomers will eventually help land him a good-paying job.

To make that happen, Drain is counting on a new effort through the Youth Career Center — a new jobs initiative aimed at Detroit youths ages 16-24 who aren’t in school or working.

The initiative, announced Thursday by Mayor Mike Duggan during a news conference at the Youth Career Center in southwest Detroit, hopes to reach 25,000 youths. The Youth Career Center has combined forces with the Detroit Employment Solutions Corp. and SER Metro Detroit for Detroit Works.

“I’ve been in the program for about two weeks,’’ said Drain. “The program is supposed to set me up to be ready to be an apprentice. I was a college student. So far, it brought my attention to learning more about trades. I really didn’t know much about painting and electrical work and carpentry.

Read the full article here!

The National Skills Coalition (NSC) has created a series of toolkits to help states develop a range of policies designed to bridge their skills gap, help people train for in-demand occupations, and help businesses find the skilled workers they need to succeed.

The toolkits are part of NSC’s skills equity agenda – an effort to advance state policies that expand access to middle-skill training through policies on job-driven financial aid, SNAP E&T, stackable credentials, alignment, integrated education and training, and TANF E&T.

Read more and download the toolkits on NSC's Skills Blog.