July 16, 2024
Grand Rapids Community College has joined 25 community and technical colleges throughout the United States in the Manufacturing Imperative - Workforce Pipeline Challenge (MI-WPC) pilot program designed to strengthen the manufacturing industry by addressing shortages in the workforce and closing the skills gap.
The MI-WPC is a three-year program with a goal to attract 1,000 individuals at each of the initial participating community and technical colleges annually, resulting in 75,000 or more qualified workers in pursuit of manufacturing careers. The estimated economic impact of growing the industry’s workforce is $6 billion.
“Grand Rapids Community College is proud to partner with the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) and our community college colleagues throughout the United States to strengthen the manufacturing industry,” said GRCC President Charles Lepper. “By working together, we can more effectively prepare students for high-demand careers and build a more robust workforce that will benefit both our local and national economies.”
The MI-WPC program was launched in Fall 2023, combining the industry and workforce expertise of SME with a select group of U.S. community and technical colleges to inspire the future workforce by training students for manufacturing careers. SME anticipates millions of U.S. manufacturing jobs will need to be filled over the next few years.
“We are thrilled to host a series of both President’s Advisory Council and Manufacturing Association Advisory Council meetings to progress this public and private sector initiative and keep the momentum moving forward,“ said Deb Volzer, government and workforce partnerships director for SME, who is leading the MI-WPC initiative. “Additionally, we regularly bring together those implementing the initiative at each institution in our ‘Champion’ meetings where best practices are identified and shared.”
Innovative solutions for attracting students in STEM related programs, developing and deploying curriculum aligned to the needs of local industry, changing the narrative around manufacturing, and deploying strategies to build stronger relationships with school districts will be shared nationally to grow local economics, reduce barriers to employment, and fill vacant manufacturing jobs.
This story was reported by Amy Soper.