1st year report on
HB13-1165
Advanced Manufacturing
Career Pathway
“Building a Stronger Talent Pipeline”
by the
Colorado Community College System
August 30, 2014
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State Advisory Council and Friends
Sen. Rollie Heath
Rep. Jim Wilson
Sponsor of HB13-1165
Sponsor of HB13-1165
Colorado Legislature
Colorado Legislature
Noah Aptekar
Angela Baber
Zsuzsa Balough Ph.D.
Steve Chorak
Tim Heaton
Jennifer Jasinowski
Emily Lesh
Michelle Liu
Inta Morris
Julia Pirnack
Dawn Taylor Owens
Ben Nesbitt
Jo O’Brien
Casey Sacks
Stephanie Steffens
Scott Stump
Karla Tartz
John Vukich
Manager of Strategy (former)
Director
Faculty, Civil Engineering
Workforce Specialist
President
CTE Services Manager
Assistant Director
Supervisor
Director
Director of Web Development
Executive Director
Director Skilled Trades/Industry
Program Director
Project Manager
Director
Dean
Deputy Director (former)
Program Development
OEDIT
Colorado Education Initiative
Metro State University
Pueblo Workforce Center
CAMA
CO Community College System
CO Workforce Development
CO Department of Education
CO Department of Higher Ed
Colorado in Colorado
College in Colorado
CO Community College System
CO Community College System
CO Community College System
CO Workforce Development
CO Community College System
OEDIT
Pueblo
…And with the on-site assistance and writing skills of Collaborative Economics.
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Table of Contents
Executive Summary....................................................................................................................................... 5
Colorado Manufacturing Career Pathway: “Colorado Talent Pipeline” ...................................................... 9
Preface .......................................................................................................................................................... 9
Benefits of a Manufacturing Career Pathway ............................................................................................... 9
Feedback from the Five Regional Colorado’s Business and Education Micro Summits ............................. 11
Next Steps ................................................................................................................................................... 16
Appendix A: Colorado Micro Summits ....................................................................................................... 19
Pueblo Regional Business Micro Summit.................................................................................................... 23
Pueblo Regional Educator Micro Summit ................................................................................................... 25
Montrose Regional Business Micro Summit ............................................................................................... 27
Montrose Regional Educator Micro Summit .............................................................................................. 31
Denver Regional Business Micro Summit ................................................................................................... 33
Denver Regional Educator Micro Summit................................................................................................... 37
Grand Junction Regional Business Micro Summit ...................................................................................... 41
Grand Junction Regional Educator Micro Summit ...................................................................................... 45
Northern Colorado Manufacturing Sector Partnership Business Summit.................................................. 47
Northern Colorado Regional Educator Summit .......................................................................................... 51
Colorado Springs Regional Business Micro Summit ................................................................................... 53
Colorado Springs Regional Educator Micro Summit ................................................................................... 55
Appendix B: HB13-1165 Legislation ........................................................................................................... 59
Appendix C: National Advanced Manufacturing Competency Model ....................................................... 65
Appendix D: Organizations in Support of Colorado Advanced Manufacturing ......................................... 69
Appendix E: Map of Colorado Community College System Advance Manufacturing Sector Profiles ....... 73
Appendix F: Overall Map of Advanced Manufacturing Pathways ............................................................. 77
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Advanced
Manufacturing
Building a High Quality
“Talent Pipeline” with Colorado’s
Advanced Manufacturing Industry
August 30, 2014
Executive Summary
Colorado needs a well-trained Advanced Manufacturing workforce. This is a major factor in growing
existing industries and attracting new ones to Colorado. State legislation HB13- 1165 establishes a
manufacturing career pathway in order to clarify workforce skills which businesses needs in order to be
more competitive. Once the updated job needs and skills have been isolated then the campaign to
crosswalk and improve the education and training occurs. Alignment of high demand market needs with
program and course progressions will occur. A pathway is being be built which helps outline for students,
veterans and incumbent adult workers the opportunities for being trained and accelerating opportunities
which qualify them for jobs in the manufacturing sector.
Work to date includes state and regional labor market analyses, extensive regional business feedback
conversations and a preliminary inventory of talent pipeline resources. From this effort Colorado has
identified the 10 most in demand Advanced Manufacturing jobs statewide and by economic region. It has
outlined in detail the skills and knowledge for more than 35 jobs. The five most critical general pathways
are identified and sequenced.
With the help of more than 400 business and regional partners, the Colorado Community College
System has also found powerful work characteristics needed in a competitive manufacturing market.
These are being embedded in job descriptions and include traits such as precision, confidence to make
decisions and ability to cope with unknown variables.
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In the process, Colorado has worked with industry associations, policy leaders and business leaders to
precisely define the industry (and define what it is not). The definition is tight. By publically identifying
sub- sectors of the work performed, the conversations and understandings have added even more
clarity.
After the labor market data was regionally analyzed and more accurately framed in context five of the
most relevant career pathways have been defined. They are a production path, an engineering and
research/development path, a maintenance and installation path, a quality assurance path and a logistic
path. Each will soon have articulation of the certifications, education, and preferred field experience
which accelerates strong employment opportunities. Additionally, existing Advanced Manufacturing
resources such as contests, scholarships, fellowships and internship by economic region have been
identified (and will continue to be built upon).
Twenty 4 minute videos have been obtained and posted on the State’s new Manufacturing website. The
feature compelling manufacturing processes in all five subsectors. Many challenge the old stereotypes
of the industry by showcasing high technology tools and products. As business strongly cued, the
efficient, lean and clean procedures matter. These videos show women, advanced math and specialized
production are important contributions to new work.
The future of an expanded Advanced Manufacturing industry in Colorado depends on two things: an
aggressive re-branding of its process and benefits and more intentional path for young and incumbent
workers to follow which “fast tracks” their eligibility for employment in manufacturing. The website
recently built http://www.coloradomanufacturingcareers.com/ outlines all of the manufacturers and
their websites by region. It hosts the videos of Advanced Manufacturing’s competitive and exciting new
directions. Compelling benchmark figures are presented with salaries and zip code based nearby
locations for training and education.
Both a map of broad direction and specific career path illustrations are being finalized for expeditious
talent development. If every middle school and high school student in Colorado is building a portfolio
(ICAP) of their career exploration, academic transcripts and field experience, the Community College is
building with business leaders an idealized Advanced Manufacturing ICAP for first position job interview
qualifications. These “open source” examples tailor made to business specifications will be prime
exhibits for this year’s outreach and implementation with our potential workforce. Veterans and other
incumbent workers will have similar idealized and sequenced examples for their “fast track” education
and training for existing and emerging Advanced Manufacturing jobs in Colorado.
Our first year work for HB1165 has produced a great deal of custom products. What follows are the
details from the 2013-2014 launch. Partnerships with the CWDC Sector Partnerships, CAMA, The Edge
members, College in Colorado, colleagues working on the TAA-CHAMP grant and in the Office of
Economic Development were generous with ideas and their networks of Advanced Manufacturing
business leaders.
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Colorado Manufacturing Career Pathway: “Colorado’s Talent Pipeline”
Preface
Colorado is making it a statewide priority to provide a well-trained Advanced Manufacturing workforce.
This is a major factor in growing existing industries and attracting new ones to Colorado. Currently, the
state is not producing the quantity of workers necessary to support existing manufacturing or meet the
future needs of this sector. In the spring of 2013, the Colorado General Assembly addressed this need
with the passage of HB13-1165 which authorized the creation of a Manufacturing Career Pathway.
While development of this pathway will be coordinated by the State Board for Community Colleges and
Occupational Education (SBCCOE) in collaboration with the Colorado Department of Higher Education
(CDHE), Colorado Department of Education (CDE) and the Colorado Department of Labor and
Employment (CDLE), it will be industry led by manufacturers across the state.
The goal of designing a Manufacturing Career Pathway is to provide efficient and economical “on
ramps” for individuals interested in pursuing careers in the manufacturing sector. The Pathway will
include:
(1) Career exploration information for students in middle school interested in pursuing a career in
advanced manufacturing.
(2) Development of secondary programs that offer a clearly-defined pathway to the acquisition of
Industry-designated stackable certifications, Associate, Bachelor or graduate degrees designed with
industry input.
(3) Multiple entry and exit points offering opportunities for workers re-entering the workforce or
existing individuals looking for career advancement.
(4) Identification of the academic, workplace, and technical competencies identified by manufacturing
employers necessary for career progression in high-demand manufacturing occupations.
(5) Technical skill assessments, academic and career counseling, and other support services.
Benefits of a Manufacturing Career Pathway
Identifying and integrating academic, technical, and workforce competencies into a comprehensive
pathway, provides for a smooth transition from secondary to post-secondary education and into the
workplace without duplication of courses, loss of credit or delays in completing necessary training
needed for employment.
For high school students, the benefits are clear. A student can jump-start his or her career by beginning
technical education in high school or at a career technology center. A student can take advantage of
concurrent enrollment programs where they can earn college credit for work completed while in high
school reducing the cost and time requirement of an education.
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For adults who may be looking for a career change or looking to advance, this Pathway will provide
opportunities for “in-demand” skill training in an educational system that values experience and credit
for prior learning. For the advanced manufacturing sector, this initiative provides employers with a
chance to help shape the education system so that it supplies a workforce with the skills needed to
succeed in today’s competitive advanced manufacturing workplace.
The Colorado Manufacturing Career Pathway Initiative is a collaboration of manufacturing, education
and labor leaders that provides comprehensive insight necessary for Colorado to be competitive in a
global advanced manufacturing economy.
The Initiative provides a roadmap that prepares the manufacturing workforce with rewarding, high-skill,
high-wage and sustainable careers in the advanced manufacturing sector. With agreement about
fundamental skill competencies, this Pathway provides options for both students and adults to become
certified and the resources necessary to accelerate the fostering of a stronger advanced manufacturing
workforce for Colorado.
The vision of this talent pipeline includes clearly defined educational programs and courses which start
in middle school. This includes a progression through technical institutes, community colleges and
universities. In addition, adult learner options exist which ultimately lead to the earning of nationally
recognized credentials and advanced career opportunities in Colorado’s Advanced Manufacturing
sector.
The mission and steps necessary to get there begin with an inventory of the skill requirements of
Colorado’s Advanced Manufacturers. This can’t be researched in data or technical articles. The State of
Colorado will include:
a. The knowledge and skills needed for this industry are updated and defined through face to face
conversations with its business leaders and up to the minute validation of assumptions with
manufacturing employees.
b. Then a comparison of resources and curricula with these field needs is performed. Where are the
gaps? How are essential and competitively required competencies taught in the systems we have.
Working in partnership with manufacturing employers, this Pathway identifies academic, technical
and workplace skills necessary for career success. Skill gaps in existing programs will be identified
and additional curriculum will be obtained as necessary to provide targeted and relevant training at
each level in the system.
c. Finally, a more efficient roadmap defined for student and adult learners showing easy entry and exit
points that lead to successful employment is built. In turn, Colorado’s Advanced Manufacturers
receive a dedicated talent pipeline from which they can access more quickly deeper pools of
appropriately skilled workers.
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So just what do Colorado’s manufacturers need today in a skilled workforce? More than 400 employers
and regional leaders were convened early this year and asked. Below is the feedback from a set of
statewide and regional “micro-summit” feedback sessions and from surveys. Both were intended to
either validate or inform up to date labor market information and job skill profiles.
Feedback from the Five Regional
Colorado’s Business and Education Micro-Summits:
Context
Colorado’s economy relies on a more skilled workforce in order to fulfill Advanced Manufacturing
industry needs. To accelerate the number and quality of talented workers, a smarter pathway of
learning for these jobs is being built.
Advanced Manufacturing is the method to design and produce this result. It uses innovative technology,
processes, and methods to improve the quality of production, products, & workforce. The industry
generates more than $16.3 billion in annual goods and services each year in Colorado. More than
149,000 Coloradoans are employed in this sector. At least 15,800 jobs go unfilled each year. This
industry can expand even more when talented workers are trained in the new expectations of this
competitive market.
The five types of Colorado manufacturing specialization are:
• Computer and electronic (semi-conductors, solar panels, clean water measures)
• Food and beverage (breweries, soft drinks, bread, dairy and meat processing)
• Fabricated materials (specialized defense and space materials, textile production, energy efficient
panels)
• Machinery (wind turbines, farm and mining implements, optical systems, and HVAC systems)
• Specialized manufacturing (medical devices, outdoor recreation equipment)
State and federal resources are being applied to accelerate a talent pipeline of skilled workers who are
more deeply competent in these areas. HB1165 Colorado legislation dedicated to building a career
pathway, federal economic development and community college (CHAMP/TAAACT 3) grants is actively
engaged on behalf of Colorado’s Advanced Manufacturing workforce.
However, only business leaders and industry workers can define how the market is reshaping the
definition of the new “high quality” job candidate. To discover what the marketplace in Colorado
urgently demands, regional and state labor market data for our Advanced Manufacturing economies
was compiled.
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Validation and qualitative feedback from manufacturing business leaders was solicited in a set of
regional meetings between January and June 2014. The targeted questions focused on the more precise
skills, characteristics, and occupations which need to be filled in an evolving employment landscape.
Traditional expectations about manufacturing career paths are shifting. Colorado has set out to
intentionally capture the manufacturing marketplace’s urgent workforce needs.
The Setting
As business leaders were convened for face to face conversations about skilled employee needs,
regional educators were invited to join the micro summits. After they listened to business leaders
outlining for themselves what their regional competitive markets required from their workers,
educators discussed among them the components of career readiness most suited to accelerating such
skills and competencies.
Regional meetings were held in Pueblo, Montrose, Denver, Grand Junction, Fort Collins and Colorado
Springs. More than 400 business individuals were involved.
The General Business Leader Feedback
 The cost associated with recruiting skilled positions is rising as the pool of qualified workers seems
to shrink.
 Manufacturers need help recruiting and training a savvy workforce to even keep much less grow
market share and think more strategically.
 Unit labor costs are a tremendous driver in the modern manufacturing business equation. Even
unskilled or semi-skilled workers on the floor need to be able to handle complex processes.
 Skilled machinists, for example, need to be able to do more than operate a machine and handle
process engineering and management responsibility. Process engineering positions are difficult to
fill despite the fact that this is a skill critical for almost every position.
 A dearth of process engineers and production staff skilled in process engineering is hurting the
bottom line. Everyone from the skilled machinists to the assemblers need to better understand the
flow in order to get the best return on investment.
 In fact, supply chain management, equipment maintenance, and quality assurance were all equally
related and valued. The net return on investment demand that all manufacturing workers
understand and engage “just in time” efficiencies.
 Communication skills to clarify job tasks or mechanical problems are vital and not currently
prevalent. Additionally, sales and marketing as well as floor workers must understand the product
and effective language related to its features.
 The “new normal” core competencies for entry level and above employees have shifted upwards.
These include:
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 Stronger math, science, and communication skills are vital.
 A passion for accuracy, precision, mental math, estimation, and quality in the final/finished
product matter.
 Prior experiences in actually handling products, understanding production sequences, supply
chains, and efficiency methods are essential.
 Using a team approach for speedy production and quality assurance keep businesses, at least
for now, competitive.
 Consistently high quality products delivered on time require “soft skills” such as persistence,
integrity, and effective conceptual mindsets (e.g., “part to whole” or “whole to part” thinking).
 Confidence to apply latent skills and knowledge to solve pressing problems and the adaptability
to shift to better techniques to accomplish more in a limited timeframe are basic necessities.
 In smaller companies, workers are less specialized which means that state LMI data does not
accurately capture the complexity of jobs in small shops.
 For example, in some smaller shops in this sample of employers, skilled machinists need to be
able to do more than operate a machine; they also handle process engineering and
management responsibility.
Tool and die makers are starting to retire and there aren’t many trained workers coming up.
Skilled machinist positions are difficult to fill and the impact on cost is high. Big gains are to be had
if the pipeline of candidates could be filled here.
Entry-level technical sales positions are difficult to fill - taking six months or more to fill.
Advanced sales techniques (such as leveraging social media platforms) are more and more
important.
Manufacturing faces a perception issue among recent high school graduates. Since four-year college is
heavily promoted for every student and manufacturing is often seen as a second-tier career option, a
core group of workers who might have gone directly into manufacturing are being diverted away from
good, well-paying jobs in the sector. Advanced Manufacturing Industry leaders had several common
needs for specific occupations and more generalized skill career pathways.
________________________
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The workforce occupations (job specific needs) discussed as needed across Colorado manufacturers
included:
 Fabrication and Assembly Workers
 Production Workers
 CNC Operators
 CNC Machine Programmers
 Front Line Supervisors
 Machinists
 Maintenance and Repair Service Specialists
 Industrial Machinery Mechanics
 Inspectors and Quality Control Workers
 Supply Chain and Sales Specialists
 Welders
 Engineers (process, electrical, etc.)
The generalizable career paths needed in Colorado’s Advanced Manufacturing businesses included:
 A Production pathway
 An Engineering / Research and Development pathway
 A Logistics and Planning pathway
 A Maintenance, Repair and Installation pathway
 A Quality Assurance pathway
General Feedback on Production Occupations
Production occupations comprise almost half of all Colorado manufacturing jobs and are predicted to
show strong growth over the next decade. Employers across regions spoke of the need for CNC
machinists, welders, quality inspection, programmers, operators, assembly workers.
Overall, employers reported having a hard time finding passionate, smart, critical-thinking, problemsolving, workers with the skills they need in deductive reasoning and math. Specific soft skills
mentioned varied from very basic, such as showing up on time (and every day), having a good attitude
and getting along with other line staff, to the ability to troubleshoot or problem-solve issues on the line.
Going a step further, employers also described that they are looking for employees who are always
thinking about how to make the firm run better. Employers used different strategies for managing jobs
that required several skill sets.
The needs in a talented workforce sometimes varied both by specialization and economic microeconomies. The specific regional jobs and new general manufacturing competencies are later outlined in
the notes attached.
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The Educator Response
Educators agreed that Advanced Manufacturing skills and careers offered powerful math, problem
solving, and science opportunities. They were flexible and open about how industry’s needs accelerated
their “school” program needs. The skill sets of the key occupations were too often disconnected with
parallel education investments.
Each feedback group asked for outlined specific knowledge and competency pre-requisites needed for
manufacturing job candidacy and of the related national industry certificates.
The repeated comments from educators centered on the need for both students and teachers to have
experiential opportunities with Advanced Manufacturing. Internships, job shadowing, and
apprenticeship experiences were strongly valued by educators. A general optimism about students
applying knowledge, deeply exploring career interests and finding relevance in their learning were
frequently discussed.
A call for raising awareness with high school counselors and parents about Advanced Manufacturing’s
elevated career potential re-occurred in each micro summit. Each session featured appreciation
regarding its career benefits to veterans, related industry workers, college graduates, P-20 students and
the community at large.
Early student experiences, young adult projects, relevant coursework and intern-on-site opportunities
were outlined. There was positivity about more sophisticated Advanced Manufacturing knowledge and
skills potential and career incomes.
No meeting overlooked a need for both Advanced Manufacturing rebranding and marketing campaigns
in schools and in the general community. What this industry once was and what it is now doing for local
economic fortunes and local students looking for rewarding careers was noteworthy to every educator
micro summit participant.
The academic and experience-based learning demand is understood to be more sophisticated than what
the industry may have previously needed. Computer automated design, lean production techniques,
and problem solving technologies are redefining how educators approach their task of filling Advanced
Manufacturing workforce needs.
The seven critical educational adjustments or programs for accelerating graduates’ careers into
Advanced Manufacturing began to take common shape with the following shared themes:
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Advanced Manufacturing skills are STEM skills. The demand for strong basic or higher math,
science, and problem solving are essential for education AND industry.
Students benefit when they can see and experience what adults do in this career. Job shadowing,
internships, scholarships, and experience-based projects can connect to what they already need to
know in class. Clarifying high quality career pathway elements and the pre-requisite courses for
Advanced Manufacturing jobs add value to many student decisions.
ICAP’s, graduation policy, and concurrent enrollment can be game changing agents for urgent
Advanced Manufacturer’s need for talented workers.
Teacher sabbaticals designed to discover (just for the educator) how Advanced Manufacturing has
significance in classroom units of study.
Relevant and connected school lessons aligned with out of school activities accelerate student’s
successful job candidate portfolios.
Connecting mentorships with scholarships are just one example of linking intentional accountability
into separate initiatives.
Apprenticeships and job internships which reflect mature math, science, technology, and
engineering and as a team event mirror what manufacturers need in their new workforce profiles.
________________________
Next Steps
Business in manufacturing can be more specific about their workforce skill needs. Educators can adjust
their curricula to meet these needs and still attend to their schoolhouse objectives. Subject matter
experts will be convened to unpack the more precise skills of the selected occupations needed in the
Colorado Advanced Manufacturing workforce. These skills will be cross walked to Colorado Academic
Standards and to programs both existing and emerging.
Note that these job skills will profile and outline the minimum requirements for adequate
manufacturing employment. New skillsets for generalizable workforce competency yield more desired
performance. Regardless of a manufacturing occupation, these will include such job talent
competencies as adaptability, decision making, and the confidence and capacity to apply foundational
manufacturing knowledge and skills in order to solve increasingly complex work problems.
A suggested career pathway or “talent pipeline” will also be developed so that program advisors,
interested workers, school leaders, students, and career and college counselors can make easy the
training and qualifying terms for employment.
Better “on-ramps” to Advanced Manufacturing jobs occur with precise descriptions, high expectations,
multiple experience opportunities, and regional coordination. We will know of the value in both the
occupation skill profiles and these more generalized career paths if they are also used with incumbent
workers and in policy investment decisions.
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An inventory of the assets which lend themselves to deep learning and competency development for
this industry will be taken. More importantly, a set of benchmarks will be provided to fill today’s
Colorado market workforce gaps. Examples will feature more efficient ways to spend existing time and
money in programs working on behalf of Advanced Manufacturing. (For example: What are the
elements of a high quality internship? What are the more valued science courses manufacturers require
in a job candidate?)
Recommendations about “fast response” practices which better fill the talent pipeline of a skilled
Advanced Manufacturing workforce will be captured. These may include:
- Veteran “transition to work” practices
- Bridging essential industry certificates for high school graduation
- Precisely articulated examples of study and experience which get worker’s first position interviews
- General educator sabbaticals to work in the industry for better understanding about skill needs
- Effective “learner-to-industry” latticed experiences
Attached is the invitation to the Micro Summits and the notes of each regional business and educator
feedback conversation.
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Appendix A
Colorado Micro Summits:
Documented Notice to Attend
Regional Notes
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Advanced
Manufacturing
What is Advanced Manufacturing?
Advanced Manufacturing is defined as… the method to design and
produce. It uses innovative technology, processes and methods to
improve the quality of production.
What is new?
More than $42 million dollars are recently being infused into Colorado in
order to significantly improve the talent of its workforce in order to
expand the Advanced Manufacturing industry. The “pipeline” of skilled
and talented people to fill good jobs requires more alignment to business
needs in education and training programs.
What are examples of how we might benefit?
As business specifically clarifies the skills and knowledge now needed in new workers, Colorado schools
and training programs can design a helpful pathway design which accelerates a more talented pools of
candidates for Advanced Manufacturers. Curricula, training equipment and job internships will be built.
How effective these become depends on how engaged business leaders become this year. Educators
will be invited to think about best practices toward these goals.
Where and how can we help this?
Your input will shape these supports. Mark your calendar as the event notices go out to participate in the
validating of new expectations and skills necessary to increase our skilled workforce. Micro Summits will
be where begin agreement and metrics of needed occupational skills and competencies. Advanced
Manufacturing business workforce summits will occur once at each of these locations:
Pueblo \ Larimer \ Mesa
\
Montrose \ Denver \
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Colorado Springs
How Colorado Accelerates Its
Advanced Manufacturing Industry
Principles We Use to Meet Workforce Needs
December 3, 2013
1. Advanced Manufacturers in both small businesses and large
corporations must lead the identification of its industry’s needed
skills and competencies before any decisions to help are made.
2. Community colleges and technical institutions are instrumental to
polishing and aligning their offerings to Advanced Manufacturing
industries’ workforce needs in Colorado.
3. Career roadmaps draw pictures for students, veterans, incumbent
workers, parents and workforce advisors and school counselors of the
possibilities within this industry.
4. Data and feedback only work when benchmarked to a standard.
5. Collaborative and shared communication among significant players
maximizes Advanced Manufacturing development. Shared Colorado
re-branding works.
6. Regional maps illustrating “real time” job openings”, internships,
industry certificate programs and middle and high school academic
programs related to Advanced Manufacturing tend to accelerate
productive observations which benefit the industry.
7. Sector partnerships, job apprenticeships, badges, job shadowing,
competency based diplomas and industry certificates are powerful
examples of self-interest. These are examples of strong
accountability, effort and earned proficiency.
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January 24, 2014
Pueblo Regional
Business Micro Summit
LMI Jobs Data
Business feedback on manufacturing job skills and occupations:
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Half of Pueblo regional manufacturing jobs actually require industry certification.
Certificates in our region are especially needed for Welding, CNC machining, Tool and Die machining,
Degree completion is one of the ways employers in this region evaluate an employee for the potential
of upward mobility or engineering positions but not a driving factor for initial employment.
Employers value internships (and other solid work experiences) from job seekers.
Conventional training in Advanced Manufacturing is needed, not the expensive and risk laden practice
of on- the- job training.
Employer job descriptions in the region have adequate detail to formalize the needed technical skills
(generally) and overall competencies for job classification (job title).
Basic employability standards need to be articulated and shared across businesses. Too much
variability. It is currently causing too high a rate of attrition or local job hopping. (Expensive to rehire,
train.)
New areas of common industry knowledge: Supply chain management and LEAN processes are the
new requirement of worker knowledge (these could also be employers training areas- introducing
rapid CQI processes where large scale/whole house improvements/changes happen quickly (e.g. 1
week process changes).
Quality assurance and basic maintenance are essential skills.
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Employers are doing in house training to a large degree to get employees up to speed in entry level
positions:
- Production technicians need generally 3 weeks to be ready for work
- Basic machining need- 19 weeks
- Painters for production- 20 weeks
UNIQUE Workforce Regional Needs:
Employers want to see fast track programs for:
1. Welding
2. Machining
3. Production Technicians
OVERALL Workforce Needs:
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Apprenticeships would be very valuable (Electrical/mechanical).
Current employees are lacking motivation to take next steps of professional training.
Employers in the region want education updates on new course offerings or other significant changes.
Frequent plant tours and other opportunities for employers and educators to learn from each other.
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January 24, 2014
Pueblo Regional
Educator Micro Summit
Educator feedback on the best Advanced Manufacturing career pathway components:
General Advice:
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Improve or entirely re-brand this industry profile so that students and their families understand how
dynamic this industry is and how impressive and satisfying careers in it are for skilled people.
Make sure there is continuity in partnership development (regular engagement, steady flow of
interns, etc.).
Need employers to identify credentials and skillsets which are specific to job title.
Build student applied knowledge in manufacturing workforce earlier in learning activities and in their
more formal career interest exploration.
Need stronger general school connections to this industry.
Need employers to determine the credentials and education levels needed for employment (HS
diploma, AA vs AAS vs 4 year degree, etc.).
Expand Concurrent Enrollment: It works (especially in machining and welding).
Educators need to foster strong industry relationships in order to show the jobs and skills available in
the local area.
Job Shadow/Work Based Learning Experiences/Mentoring
 Field trips appropriate for 3rd grade (need to identify these and foster the skills and knowledge seen
in the trips).
 One on one mentoring and work based learning experiences for High School and Post-Secondary
(identifies and foster).
 Association sponsorships (i.e. projects for 3rd-5th grades, sub-sector focus) to help with units of study,
capstone projects, etc.
 Tap into retired executives as mentors.
 Educators can highlight their own alumni in industry- local favorites.
 Develop more” hands on” activities for all students both in and out of school starting at Middle School
level.
 Teacher supplemental support for sabbaticals
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Internships
 Many currently lack focus and are just used for cheap labor.
 Need to increase technical skills rather than general cleaning, filing, etc.
 Need to work on how we address age limitations/inherent liability questions.
 Need to address lack of prep for entry level workplace skills (these when done correctly should be
bridges to employment).
Industry Certifications
 Entry level certification/knowledge of manufacturing and technical skill level design as foundational.
 Importance for upward job mobility needs to be recognized by industry.
 Certificates from an education view are important for improving skills (stackable) and retraining
workforce.
Scholarships
 Should be directed and specific towards a program.
 Tie to employment.
 Include a mentor in the award for guidance.
Credit for Prior Learning
 Accelerators like this make a big difference.
 CNC must tie in.
 Modules of learning? Breakdown larger courses for smaller credits that accumulate (and transfer).
Things Educators Believe Work:
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Teacher training and awareness opportunities accelerate industry needs faster than just student
visits.
Increase company supported connection points (mentors, support with student contests, project
advisory) - knowing this will take dedicated company resources, either time or funds.
Consistent policy from government and accountability entities.
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March 3, 2014
Montrose Regional
Business Micro Summit
LMI Jobs Data
Business feedback on manufacturing job skills and occupations:
State of talent and training
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We fundamentally need skilled and specialized experienced people.
High-level engineering talent is in demand.
We compete with the Front Range for talent.
I really believe in cross-training employees on each other’s jobs. We do that just within our fabrication
group and it’s very important because it helps innovate on processes. It means that the whole
fabrication team really understands each step and can make recommendations on how to improve
process. It also helps if there is turnover.
In Region 10, employers identified two tasks that advanced engineering talent could move the needle
on: innovating new products and improving processes. Manufacturers lamented that good operation
engineers who can improve efficiency in production processes are critical for maintaining
competitiveness. Also discussed was the need to help create new lines and products. In Region 10,
employers have a hard time sourcing talent locally and generally recruit from other parts of the state,
and even nationally.
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We cross train and it helps them look at the product differently and increases efficiency. It also
protects the process during staff turnover.
We see vertical pathways in production, but we don’t usually see horizontal movement across
categories.
We do a lot of internal promotion/progression but we are also a bigger company. If someone shows
promise in using a computer we might groom them for an engineering position or sales. If you’re good
at operating, a move to maintenance may work.
We cross train in production but we also have the sales staff train in production because it helps them
know the product better. It also protects the process during staff turnover.
We train our machinists in house because our equipment is so old!
In Region 10, employers identified a pain point when it came to finding sales staff who know how to
negotiate social media and a new sales terrain.
It’s hard to train all of your operators at once – you need to be able to access training quarterly to get
everyone through and still keep business delivery and operations up.
It’d be great to have cross company training so we can see how each other’s processes work. That
experience will be educational for everyone.
Employers in Region 10 reported that skilled supervisors are in high demand because of their pivotal
role in business success. Skilled supervisors possess a variety of skills and experience. They cited some
specific skills and abilities including: experience working in different kinds of production
environments, good problem solving skills, attention to detail, and tech savvy.
It might be time to bring back the Montrose Manufacturers Association.
Career pathways in your manufacturing system Depending on the company, sometimes the pathway is from Quality Control to Production and
sometimes it’s the other way around – depending on the skill level of each job.
 Manufacturers do and would like to promote production supervisors from within but struggle with
finding people with good skills.
 There is some horizontal progression in more skilled occupations – management, engineering, sales,
but production is mostly vertical.
 Some progression from production into the front office or the other way around. We aren’t good at
cross-training and giving people the training to crossover. We also see that the skillsets for front vs.
back office are generally pretty different. Better movement between general management, sales,
and engineering.
 Production worker to production supervisor occurs, but it doesn’t happen enough. We don’t really
see horizontal movement across categories. However, our support staff is very small and we aren’t
set up for heavy movement. We’ve had staff leave because there is no advancement opportunity.
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Interaction with local education There was a specialized training several years ago for production employees to learn supervisory skills.
The training was put together by the CMU campus in Montrose. Employers were happy with this.
 With enough interest (classes must be 12-14 people), CMU can create specialized training for local
manufacturers.
 Western Slope with CAMT also put together a lean manufacturing training class.
 Otherwise not extensive interaction.
UNIQUE Workforce Regional Needs:
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Production Occupations
o Skilled supervisors for production are in demand and crucial to business success.
o Skills and abilities needed: experience working in different kinds of production environments,
good problem solving skills, attention to detail, tech savvy.
o I would say that a skilled supervisor in production is the most important employee in terms of
saving you money.
o Manufacturers emphasized the importance skilled CNC machine operators and Quality Control
Inspectors as positions that had particular impact on their ability to compete in a global market.
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Quality Control and Production Workers
o QC workers are about finding an employee who will let only the best product out the door.
o The person seeing it before it goes out the door has to be one of your best employees.
o QC roles can be very technical and have new tech knowledge is important.
o We all want the problem solvers: big picture people. But those employees are 1/10. Everyone
wants to do a good job, but if we get a higher percentage that could be problem solvers that
would be a big deal.
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Engineering
o We need industrial manufacturing engineers - the person who can streamline and manage
processes. That’s a huge money saver which many companies don’t invest in.
o There are engineering specialists across the country. We use outside companies for specialized
aviation contracts.
o High-level talent for engineering is needed in Region 10, despite data indications. Companies are
involved in advanced processes and need help with production and product design in order to
grow.
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Sales
o We need sales and marketing people who have new skills and understand social media marketing
o I had been doing marketing myself but I know I need to do more if I want to grow
o Social Media is a huge part of marketing these days. Our company can always use help with that
even though we work on it.
OVERALL Workforce Needs:
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Skilled supervisors are the hardest to fill. We would like to promote from within but it doesn’t happen
naturally. General labor is easy to find, but people who are tech savvy and have good attention to
detail are more difficult to find.
Part of the problem is that a lot of our workers haven’t really experienced the manufacturing world
outside of Montrose so they can’t see the big picture. You gain knowledge and experience from
working at other firms and seeing how other production lines work and that’s what can help you see
the big picture. Our workers are limited by that.
We find that skilled supervisors and production supervisors are the best money saver. When you can
get good employees in these positions, it makes the biggest difference to the bottom line.
Hourly production workers that have problem solving skills are in huge demand.
We invest in very advanced machinery and the design is really complicated. We need more talent at
a higher level. We struggle just to get employees with basic computer literacy, much less skills to work
on advanced machinery.
It’s that last 20% of the problem or the new line – getting that part figured out. You need talent to
help you cross the finish line as far as new products or processes. That’s where cost savings and
innovation happens.
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March 3, 2014
Montrose Regional
Educator Micro Summit
Educator feedback on the best career pathway components:
General Feedback:
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Schools would benefit from clear mini pre-requisites for manufacturing-ready student trajectory.
Mentorships for general education teachers would be helpful.
General public and school district awareness of Advanced Manufacturing job profiles.
21st century skills and strong problems solving scenarios foster success.
Concurrent enrollment is a clear line for students to see and use toward manufacturing jobs.
Job Shadow/Work Based Learning Experiences/Mentoring
 Hands on activities in school accelerate the logic to field experiences in middle and high school.
 Mentoring can be defined as personal “sponsorship” and network introductions for students, too.
 Work based experienced need to be grounded in both business and school utility.
 Requires less funding than coordination and integration with P-20 integration.
Internships
 Liability concerns have been solved. Learn from other districts, states, and nations.
 A culture of high experience expectations breeds a strong and successful districtwide intern program.
 Counselors and higher education can contribute to fostering internship success.
Industry Certifications
 District and business agreement about accelerating skills and competencies clarify early certificate
training opportunities.
 Clarifying skills and competencies for each manufacturing certificate do invite public, student, and
educator acceptance of industries’ demand for specialized and skilled workers.
 Stackable skills signal a lifelong habit of earning valuable mastery and improved income potential.
Things Educators Believe Work:
 Marketing matters: If students and their parents KNEW about manufacturing potential, it would speed
up the demand for learning knowledge, skills, and early income potential.
 Team industry employees with educators.
 Give teachers 6-9 week credit hours for educator learning in this field (district, college, institute, high
school counselor).
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Credit for prior learning is powerful for both the industry and for educators who want to believe these
skills have value in the marketplace (and in their profession).
Link school accountability to productive P-20 reciprocity toward manufacturing competencies.
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March 20, 2014
Denver Regional
Business Micro Summit
LMI Jobs Data
Business feedback on manufacturing job skills and occupations:
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Entry level is not the same as it was years ago. There are no positions that are appropriate for
someone walking off the street, underscoring the importance of outside training.
Even some assembly jobs are advanced in both skill and salary.
Machinists and programmers make up the bulk of company jobs and the most vacancies.
The programmer position is critical as a lynchpin occupation, supporting all other aspects of
operations.
Since the programmer’s role is so central, training must be interdisciplinary, including both an
understanding of programming and of machining.
Some companies take a different approach to interdisciplinary training: in some cases, companies will
pair one skilled programmer with an apprentice and a handful of entry-level, lower-skilled operators
in order to use talent most efficiently.
There is a clear path from entry-level machinist to skilled machinist and from skilled machinist (with
skills in programming) to programmer. There is also a path from basic assembler to machinist.
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Not all pathways are linear; process technicians and assemblers can move up to machinist and
programmer or become an experienced assembler and move up to advanced tech/assembler at the
management level.
Aluminum welders as being particularly difficult to fill. Employers reported that it is difficult to find
people with appropriate training and that this position that requires special talent; some employers
described that, “there is an art to it.”
Pipe welders are also critical due to the liability involved in the profession.
Welders with critical thinking skills, artistic ability, science background, and on the job experience are
highly desired and hard to find. Welding is not an occupation that can be taught “on the job” and
clearly a place where outside trainers are critical to the success of local companies.
Welders need formal education with hands-on experience, but employers felt that during their
training welders were not getting enough hands on training and thus were not experienced enough
to get jobs.
Quality Inspection (QI) was another important job need. It has a similar skill level and trajectory as
machinists. Like machinists, QI’s need to know understand more about the process than just their
own job; they need to understand a machinists’ job thoroughly to inspect the product. A QI can move
up into even higher levels of QI; inspectors at the highest level handle welding inspections (CWI) which
means they handle a lot of liability, and therefore can be paid very well.
Production Occupations Needed
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CNC machinist
5 axis mill and EDM
CNC Press Brake Operator
CNC Operators + Trainers of operators
CNC Set up machinists
CNC programmer
Integrated Machinist and Programmer
Pipe welders
Aluminum welders
TIG welder
Assemblers
Electrical Assembly (solder, schematics)
Quality Inspection
Process Technician
CWI
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Maintenance
 Plumbers
 Electrical
 Metal Processing
Purchasers
 All areas of manufacturing need purchasers.
 The more technically experienced the better.
Engineering
 The best engineers are home-grown, i.e. they start off as machinist in the same shop.
 Engineers who have experience on the shop floor know every step and can offer creative solutions to
specific problems.
 Not all production personnel are on a path to become engineers, though, and employers were careful
to qualify that they look for talent that can be groomed.
 Denver engineers who are successful have mechanical aptitude and personal drive.
 Other workers who show that they can be a successful machinist can often get the needed education
and move into engineering positions.
 Electrical engineers are needed in Denver.
 Mechanical engineers are needed in Denver.
 Product centered and manufacturing-based solution experienced preferred.
Sales
 Sales staff needs a technical background to be able to speak to the product.
 Employers in Denver also mentioned a strategy of having both entry and advanced level sales people
where entry level sales do not necessarily need a degree. This creates a pipeline from the shop floor
to the sales office. It needs to the right person but they’ve had very position experiencing moving the
right people.
Management and Operations
 There are fewer job openings here.
 It is NOT always linear in the Advanced Manufacturing industry to move from a seasoned floor worker
into management or operations leadership roles.
 The logistics and business skills of supply chain, profit and loss and human development need more
efficient schools and training processes.
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March 20, 2014
Denver Regional
Educator Micro Summit
Educator feedback on the best career pathway components:
General Advice:
 We need about clearer job expectations (pre-requisite math, science, engineering, experience
profile).
 Outline the mastery skills not just academic tests.
 Consider bundling these components at each grade level (e.g. Scholarships with mentorships and
graduation capstone portfolios).
 What is meant by “rigorous coursework”?
 Public outreach is essential.
 Intentional efforts to educate parents about the power of Advanced Manufacturing matters!
 In all general education, try to build contextual learning. The relevance and experiential activities
grow 21st century skills.
 We need a shared clearinghouse of resources, curricula, assets online.
 We need a database of where the programs are, where the jobs are.
 Utilize industry associations to establish and maintain messaging and experiential opportunities.
Job Shadow/Work Based Learning Experiences/Mentoring
 8th -16th grade.
 One to one mentorships are valuable if we can better outline their high quality features.
 Extend career paths are not a destination, but involve a spectrum and are lifelong.
 Content educators must be involved in the shadow process.
 Reach out to community based organizations.
 Teacher externships can be a powerful accelerating influence on a higher quality graduates and later
workforce.
Internships
 11th grade and higher.
 Require a plan of study.
 Postsecondary level only!
 Require employer reviews to be put in student ICAP.
 Tie into association sponsorship (directly).
 Internships should directly lead to entry level positions.
 Shorten timeline.
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Scholarships
 11th grade and higher only
 They are useful and should be offered for innovation, engineering, sales, and marketing, etc.
 Link to a plan of study.
 Apply them for CTE fees.
 Develop sub-sector industry paid pathway.
 High school level only.
 Tuition reimbursement (big campaign—like GI bill was used).
 Introduce to charter schools.
 Build for 10th grade and post-secondary school.
 Ensure longitudinal follow up and data collection.
 Ensure using CTE teacher rubrics, teacher reviews (like athlete scholars have).
 Give teachers scholarships and summer opportunities to use them!
 Consider the scholarship in new formats: credits, technical school opportunities, equipment.
Mentorships and Job Shadowing
 8th grade and higher (consider 3rd grade and higher using Montessori model).
 Ask that students who get a scholarship return and mentor students coming up.
 Employee to college partnerships (assign likely interest to student).
 Link scholarship and internship investment to a mentor follow through!
 Make sure that it is at least 3 months long (not just a short span).
 Develop adaptable options to incumbent workers.
 Demand that industry is involved in the plans.
 Standardize the protocol to match or pair Business with Education.
Summer Sabbaticals
 3rd grade teachers and up.
 Integrate with academic standards early.
 For teachers mostly.
 For students more often than we consider.
 For parent PTA leaders!
 For middle and high school counselors.
 Use data collection and ICAPs as success and expectation metrics.
 Link to teachers’ evaluations or professional development and advancement.
 Leverage industry associations and measure # of opportunities per sub sector.
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Contests
 For all graders (P-20).
 For teachers!
 CTSO’s are a good place for these.
 Sub-sector industry sponsorship.
 Keep the terms and competition on a high level.
 Link with other STEM investments.
 Link to mentorship events already in play.
Rigorous Coursework and the ICAP
 Begin at middle school and up.
 Keep the object of rigor practical and applied.
 Remember CACTE!
 It is about a culture of precision and problem solving.
 Stitch Plans of Study to the ICAP.
 Ensure opportunities for advanced production in a capstone.
 Link to high school graduation and endorsed diplomas.
 Reward with expansive and interesting people networks.
 Bridge concurrent enrollment.
 Blend gifted and talented and additional credit offers.
 We’re “fighting for time” vs. content courses.
 Eliminate unnecessary gateway courses.
Adult Pathways/Veteran Training/Employer Professional Development
 Leverage Credit for Prior Learning
 Technical training, on-the job training can include teachers.
 Re-purpose state dollars to this industry: tuition reimbursement (like GI Bill).
 How far can the Concurrent Enrollment model be used?
 How far can longitudinal data be utilized?
 Can we integrate regional and college training into a statewide clearinghouse with manufacturers?
Industry Certifications
 NIMS
 OSHEA
 Clarify the priority certificates for the industry statewide and regionally.
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Things Educators Believe Work:
 Marketing or rebranding is critical to turn P-20 students’ and parents’ attention to the manufacturing
careers.
 Students and their parents need to see early on that jobs and success and prestige in the economy
which is possible.
 Link this to academic standards and graduation for added impact.
Page 40
March 21, 2014
Grand Junction Regional
Business Micro Summit
LMI Jobs Data
Business feedback on manufacturing job skills and occupations:
Region has and is expanding internship and program because there aren’t enough young candidates to fill
the need:
Goals are to:
 Connect to counselors, provide work study opportunities.
 Increase awareness and participation in manufacturing day (Oct. 4).
 Develop HS Internship that leads to Apprenticeship and also leads to employment.
Regional groups are working to add manufacturing “flavoring” to current community initiatives:
 Kids Connection (CAMA) –cool videos for demonstration to students.
 Problem-based learning applications (link with manufacturing in those problem arenas).
 1st Robotics- some schools participating in the area. How can we tie in more manufacturers?
Page 41
Manufacturing generating excitement in other ways in the Grand Junction Community:
 Opportunities to highlight manufacturing in GJ in US Airways magazine
 GJEP partnership - get potential businesses connected early to foster business growth.
 Our “Maker Space” being painted and has recruitment possibilities.
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Federal programs and state initiatives are not key to the solutions we need.
Western Colorado Manufacturing Alliance is building significant community and school outreach.
“Hire Me First” initiative through the Workforce Center.
Career Pathway design underway with Western Community College for manufacturing talent pipeline.
Work study, high school, and college credit incentives and apprentice opportunities are important.
UNIQUE Workforce Regional Needs:
Top manufacturing occupations most needed in the region:
 CNC Machining
 Skilled Assemblers
 Machinists
 Mechanical Repair technicians
 Electronic Technicians
Prospective employees lack basic entry level skills in the region:
 Mathematics (basic)
 Soft Skills
 Basic technical knowledge
 Science (basic)
Regional Trends noted:
 Latinos more willing to take entry level positions.
 The area has trouble attracting new/young employees into manufacturing.
 Lots of internal training. Loose production time with internal training.
 Manufacturing hurt by oil and gas industry. Workers leave to take jobs in this area.
 Not all companies have a pathway to advancement.
 Each company needs to design a plan to develop and keep employees. High dropout rate of new
employees.
 Students need earlier exposure to the manufacturing field.
 Resources needed to feed future pathway needs.
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OVERALL Workforce Needs:
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Some in-house mentoring examples.
Targeting outreach to Latino community, veterans, and transitioning workforce (construction).
Manufacturing Alliance in the region can help with re-brand and marketing efforts.
Identify the programs at WCCC that can connect to HS and to 4 year. Work on transitions to these
programs as entry points for careers and escalators for advancement.
Continue development of internship pilot.
Address need for coordinated efforts for work experiences.
Build up student internship coordination.
Establish general teacher sabbatical/fellowship with manufacturing experiences.
Marketing campaigns which build student appetite to manufacturing careers.
Outline more specifically worker job profiles with strong basic skills and problem solving capabilities.
Grow CNC skills.
Grow Floor production and supervision experience and competencies.
Grow Maintenance experience and competencies.
Grow Engineering and aerospace competencies.
Grow Food manufacturing experience and competencies.
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Page 44
March 21, 2014
Grand Junction Regional
Educator Micro Summit
Educator feedback on the best career pathway components:
General Advice:
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Campaign and marketing of Advanced Manufacturing would help educators and students.
Problem solving, hands on approaches are good for learning: Fail Often/Succeed Faster.
General public and school district awareness of Advanced Manufacturing job profiles would help.
Counseling Alignment Team (districtwide) helps. More counselors would help the talent pipeline.
Career fairs for Advanced Manufacturing help.
Broad introductions to technical education elevate student choices.
Concurrent enrollment is a clear line for students to see and use toward manufacturing jobs.
Job Shadow/Work Based Learning Experiences/Mentoring
 Summer camps for career explorations are going well - usually about 100 students participate each
summer.
 High School students are taking advantage of concurrent enrollment opportunities
o Early scholars & High School Scholars programs
o ASCENT
 Area focused on rebranding - many technical programs are now under the STEM umbrella and
enrollment has increased. Districts would like to have better designed outreach to parent rather than
relying on “gimmicks”.
 Intentionally trying to focus shift of career and technical education and career impacts as a culture in
Grand Junction.
 Seeing good success with STEM as an application mindset to problem solve, but need this to be more
broad-based in general academics, e.g.:
o “Fail often, succeed faster”
o “Learn resiliency and persistence in problem solving to become independent thinkers”
 Hands on activities in Grand Junction schools accelerate the logic needed in field experiences at
middle and high school.
 Mentoring is also defined as personal “sponsorship” and network introductions.
 Work-based experiences are grounded not just in job shadowing and actual school lessons (at the
same time).
Page 45
Internships
 Liability concerns have been solved. Learn from other districts, states and nations.
 A culture of high experience expectations breeds a strong and successful districtwide intern program.
Industry Certifications
 District and business agreement about accelerating skills and competencies clarify early certificate
training opportunities.
 Clarifying skills and competencies by Advanced Manufacturing industry certificates would help.
Things Educators Believe Work:
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Credit for prior learning is powerful for both the industry and for educators who want to believe these
skills have value in the marketplace (and in their profession).
Marketing matters: If student and their parents KNEW about manufacturing potential it would speed
up the demand for learning knowledge, skills and early income potential.
Link school accountability to productive P-20 reciprocity toward manufacturing competencies.
Counselors and district awareness constitute help for advanced manufacturing. Need more precise
knowledge, skills and competencies needed in manufacturing job.
Intentionally connect to Career Center (Mesa 51) and WCCC as feeders.
Messaging to parents is important which signals that it is OK to not go directly into a 4-year program
and that many students benefit from exposure to skilled occupations as a career.
Advanced Manufacturing employers are interested in accelerating clearer funding streams.
Districts are struggling with the backwards mapping of careers to student ICAP, specifically:
o Need to better educate on how to choose a career.
o Need counselor alignment team.
o Highlight WCCC programs and CTE connections to Jobs.
o Renewal of counselor core grant.
o Counselors should have an advisory committee.
Introducing soft skills in all learning (ACE has good model that could be utilized).
Interested in legislation for “other options” to further students education.
o Graduation guideline requirements don’t limit career focus.
o Possibility to spin off career-minded students into more intensive technical programs.
Incentives for people in Advanced Manufacturing to become teachers.
Need to connect re-entry issues for Veterans into training programs.
Page 46
March 27, 2014
Northern Colorado Manufacturing Sector Partnership
Business Micro Summit
LMI Jobs Data
Business feedback on manufacturing job skills and occupations:
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Process engineering is disproportionately important.
Skilled machinists are important but it’s important that he/she know the flow around the machine
tool in order to get the ROI on that machine.
A major driver of manufacturing is the per unit labor costs of goods manufactured in the US. Since
we’re paying 4-5 times on labor costs as our competitors pay overseas so we need to get 4-5 times
back. Even unskilled or semi-skilled workers on the floor need to be able to handle complex processes.
In smaller companies, workers are less specialized. Skilled machinists, for example, need to be able
to do more than operate a machine and handle process engineering and management responsibility.
Production
 Tool and die makers are starting to retire and there aren’t many trained workers coming up. Those
positions are very difficult to fill.
 Skilled machinist positions are difficult to fill and the impact on cost is high.
o Difficult to find machinists that care about or have passion for being a machinist.
o In smaller companies, it’s key that machinists can handle a broader range of responsibilities
beyond operating a machine.
Page 47
o
Employers said that employees who had experience with a broader range of tools, techniques,
and processes were more valuable.
 Changing Skills for Production Supervisors
o They expect engineering managers to be part of planning conversations, conference calls and
meetings.
o But/ and this takes away from the time managers spend actually ensuring products are made on
time. This creates the need for better floor management.
o With the advent of lean and flow manufacturing practices, management doesn’t have to control
processes on the floor if there is effective flow.
o Instead of arranging orders every day, supervisory team becomes change agents and teachers.
This requires new and different communication skills.
Sales
 Combining sales and technical knowledge is key in supply chain management:
o Great supply chain people are technical enough that they can understand the supplier’s process
and know whether the supplier is capable of providing consistently good products on time.
o Supply chain management is a technical sales skill. Need to understand both process engineering
and quality.
o People coming out of CSU know how to negotiate but they’ve never seen a manufacturing floor.
Need to grow them in-house to ensure they have the right skill set.
o When shopping around for suppliers, there can be major variations in costs. Supply chain
managers need to know that. The business school at CSU has taken a huge step up in addressing
supply chain but the manufacturing part of it is lacking.
 Entry-level technical sales positions are difficult to fill, taking half a year to fill.
Technical Skills in Sales
 An important element of sales manufacturing is combining sales and technical knowledge; sales
representatives must know how their product works within a larger supply chain.
 Employers found valuable in salespeople the following characteristics in successful sales people:
o Technical enough that they can understand the supplier’s process and know whether the supplier
is capable of providing consistently good products on time.
o Understand both process engineering and quality.
 Some employers said that students coming out of Colorado State University know how to negotiate
but they’ve never seen a manufacturing floor.
 They suggested it might be easier to grow them in-house to ensure they have the right skill set. They
also said that the business school at CSU has taken steps to address the deficit in supply chain
knowledge but the manufacturing part of it is still lacking.
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Management
 Working with large companies, they expect engineering managers to be part of planning
conversations, conference calls, and meetings and that takes away from the time managers spend
actually ensuring products are made on time.
 With the advent of lean and flow, where there is good flow on the floor, management doesn’t have
to control it. If processes are correct, it runs itself. Instead of arranging orders every day, supervisory
team becomes change agents and teachers. This requires new and different communication skills.
Engineering
 Process engineering positions are the most critical because they impact every other job.
 Employers also said that new engineers were coming to work without enough real world experience
and that engineering schools were not spending enough time on how products are made in real shops.
 In engineering school, students are not taught how a part is made and lack hands-on experience.
 Process engineering positions are difficult to fill, but this is a skill that is critical for almost every
position.
UNIQUE Workforce Regional Needs:
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Machinists
Skilled Machinists
Technical electronics assembly
Welders
Machine operators
Fabricator (welding)
Mold maker
CNC machinist
Production assembly
Installation and maintenance
OVERALL Workforce Needs:
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Advanced manufacturing workforce needs do not always have a linear process.
Not everyone wants to manage other people. For example, some machinists have long, satisfying
careers as machinists without moving into a management or supervisory role.
Individual performer path: Start in production, take classes, move to tech, and then become engineer.
Management to leadership path: lead other people in those activities.
There are particular worries about tool and die makers who are starting to retire. They don’t see
sufficient numbers of trained workers coming up which makes those positions very difficult to fill.
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Some production people come in to work in the shop and then move into technical support because
they know the products and can support the products. From there, sometimes they manage other
people, supporting customers and the sales team.
Specialized manufactured products are very technical so sales staff don’t always understand that level
of technical detail.
Transitioning from production to engineering has been challenging in the last 5 years because of the
quality of people in production. Instead, we’re focusing on mechanical engineering interns from
universities. They have theory but not hands-on experience. We start them on the production floor
and then they slowly go into process and software engineering.
Manufacturing and process engineers move into supply chain management because they have floor
experience and can recognize when a supplier has the right processes in place.
Since many companies have their own training programs, it would be helpful to feed that back to the
schools. There is also a lot of online training that could be shared across companies.
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March 27, 2014
Northern Colorado Regional
Educator Micro Summit
Educator feedback on the best career pathway components:
General Advice:
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Academic advising in a broad sense needs to deeply relate to certificate programs, 2 year associate
degrees and 4 year colleges.
Career Exploration is critical and should include:
o Skills involved in the career path/job (Virginia has a nice model)
o Training locations and costs
Expand training opportunities:
o Training at employer locations
o K-12 training partnerships
o More qualified instructors (need pay incentive to attract teachers from trades)
o Maximizing current resources (evening courses at high schools)
Rebrand manufacturing:
o Show transferability of skills between jobs and programs.
o Have professional titles (parent approved like STEM/engineering) in Career Pathway.
o Have industry acknowledge applied skills leading curriculum
Job Shadow/Work Based Learning Experiences/Mentoring
 Funding needed for better equipment and general teacher training.
 Mobile labs can give graphic and fun experiences to young people.
 General teacher sabbaticals are a high value target.
Internships
 Regional selection/database/coordinator possibilities - people want easy access to something in their
community.
 Links to workforce centers and better understanding about employers need for employees to be selfeducators - they need workers who can look for new information to incorporate into their work—
programs need to reinforce/teach these skills.
Industry Certifications
 Apply industry certifications to high school diploma graduation sooner.
 Need to include soft skill training into the qualifications.
 Transfer of skills and credit for prior learning helps accelerate talented workers into the job pool.
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Does the advanced manufacturing industry value badges? Who does the vetting process of the
badges?
Highlight changes in skills as employees seek more advancement in their manufacturing
career/positions.
Feature job pathways & opportunities for advancement in manufacturing.
Highlight portability of manufacturing career.
Things Educators Believe Work:
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Increase attractiveness of manufacturing careers and reputation of trades in general.
Indicate education/training and their associated costs for each job level.
Allow for richer career exploration via manufacturing careers (especially those that reflect regional
needs).
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June-July 2014
Colorado Springs Regional Business
Survey and Conversation
LMI Job Data
Business feedback on manufacturing job skills and occupations:
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The demand for production managers and lack of supply was cited often.
Employers said these employees are well educated (BA and higher) and also have strong
communication skills as well as deep technical knowledge.
Those with the higher degree of education often specialize in other fields like computers or electronics
and in some firms this experience does not translate.
Employees with knowledge of more traditional manufacturing processes such as metal work,
fabrication, and plastics and who meet other management criteria are in short supply.
Employers mentioned assemblers as critical to their operations. Skills associated with assemblers
mostly focused on their need to be flexible and ready to change as processes or parts were updated.
Many employers promote from within for this position and several cited problems with recruiting
from the outside: there just are not a sufficient number of applicants with the right skill sets.
Specific titles of occupations that were critical to success and hard to fill were:
o Operators
o Metallurgical Production Specialists,
o Tool and Die makers
o Machinists
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o CNC Technicians
o Welders/Fabricators
o Iron and metal workers
Of employers who said metal workers were a critical occupation, 95% listed a primary reason as being
that the position was hard to fill.
Feedback on Metal Worker training in the region indicated that employers were not content with the
local educational offerings. Comments stated a need for:
o A/better Machining Program at the local college
o More practical experience integrated into training programs
o Trainings that resulted in experience with more kinds of machines and techniques
o Trainings that were more comprehensive in the kinds of certifications that could be accrued in
one institution
o More vocational training in the mechanical physics, basic electronics and hydraulics fields
o Spend more time teaching blueprint reading during welding classes
o Tie in the classes with heavy equipment (forklift) and crane training
Some employers said that they plan on having to train in-house whether due to specialized machinery
or just a lack of applicants who come in knowing the job. Several employers also said that training at
the nearby Pueblo Community College was very good.
Technical and Sales Skills
 An important element of sales is combining sales and technical knowledge; sales representatives must
know how their product works within a larger supply chain. Characteristics that Region 2 employers
found valuable in salespeople:
o Technical enough that they can understand the supplier’s process and know whether the supplier
is capable of providing consistently good products on time.
o Understand both process engineering and quality.
o See the market as dynamic.
Business and Supply Chain Skills
 Some employers said that students coming out of Colorado State University know how to negotiate
but they’ve never seen a manufacturing floor.
 They suggested it might be easier to grow them in-house to ensure they have the right skill set.
 They also said that the business school at CSU has taken steps to address the deficit in supply chain
knowledge but the manufacturing part of it is still lacking.
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March 28, 2014
Colorado Springs Regional
Educator Micro Summit
Educator feedback on the best career pathway components:
General Advice:
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Ideal career pathway components for Advanced Manufacturing in this region include:
o ICAP process built around manufacturing for interested students.
o Manufacturing scholarships
o Focused training components leveraged with large military populations in mind.
o High school diplomas with links to industry certification as proxy.
o Teacher job shadow/fellowship/summer sabbatical opportunities.
o Intentional and credit based transitions along pathway from middle school, high school, and 2 and
4 year colleges. (Mutual credit for both students and manufacturing workforce!)
o Internships in manufacturing
o Dual credit with advanced manufacturing related courses.
o Concurrent enrollment with manufacturing and training institutions.
o Apprenticeships in manufacturing.
o Industry Certifications
o Mentoring by manufacturers
Job Shadow/Work Based Learning Experiences/Mentoring
 Sabbaticals (K-20 teachers) in Advanced Manufacturing occupations
o Expectation to come back to education position
o Needed for faculty at various levels, not just postsecondary
o Firm grade level curricula cross walked with manufacturing employer for maximum benefit to all
students later
 Scholarship focus is currently on first year students entering programs; need to develop scholarship
opportunities along pathways at transition points and especially after the first year of a manufacturing
program.
o Portfolio based scholarships needed.
o Inventor scholarships needed.
o Academic and applied experience scholarships required.
 Mentoring
o Would like to see mentoring partnership between manufacturing employers and schools to build
specific units of study, particularly in general academic courses.
o Mentors would be more productive with advisory connections for counselors/career guiders.
o Requires company incentives beyond “recognition” awards, e.g., time-off, college credit,
corporate tax credits, etc.
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o
o
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Culture of mentorship can be encouraged at many levels: community, church, Chamber of
Commerce, workforce boards, schools, etc. and, in turn, manufacturing mentors help model
benefits of this industry.
Tap into school alumni (TSJC doing this currently and working well) to find loyal and successful
manufacturing mentors each year.
A state Mentor Board might be productive (SCORE Model).
Needs to always be related to internship/fellowship/teacher sabbaticals & job shadowing.
Mentors help each one to be productive and can problem solve and network when issues arise.
Internships
 Coordinator is important and a company should come to rely on a steady quality.
 Internship must be authentic problem based (preferably with a team of employees).
 Team internships need to be developed (several students working with teams of workers).
 Internships have longevity when the contacts stay the same and there are no less than three interns
or more supplied to a company semester after a semester…for years. Reliability ensures trust and
quality returns for the company. Companies should come to depend on this program.
 Veterans prefer to do “fellowships”.
 Intentional application for students to develop high demand work skills, can’t just be “free labor”.
 Job shadowing should include virtual opportunities and can be offered as early as elementary school.
Industry Certifications
 Apprenticeship should have main goal of permanent employment opportunity. Working on
certification training may be bundled-in with other expectations.
 Educators want the certificates students work on to be industry recognized. They need manufacturers
to identify them and help pitch their value to both parents and school counselors.
 Educators positively understand that certificates supplant need for general education, in some cases.
 Industry certificates will be important element in Colorado’s high school diplomas (working with HB
1165/CAMA lead).
 The industry certificates may require additional proof of general academic knowledge for high school
graduation (e.g. CSM: core mastery skills exam).
Things Educators Believe Work:
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Manufacturing Dual Credit (CHAMP is working on credit for prior learning).
o Should include recognition at high school graduation (gold cord as example).
o Should be discussed and promoted with general faculty on regular basis.
Career advising may benefit manufacturing’s workforce needs by matching counselor to student by
interest rather than alphabet.
Extensive job profiles within Colorado manufacturing industry should be available to all career
counselors.
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Systematic Changes
o Tax Relief for companies to participate in pathway components?
o Possibility for students to do technical immersion? (Colorado College has this model)
o Advantages for K-20 education tied to increases in economic gains from manufacturing?
(Expectations that schools that have programs feeding graduates into advanced manufacturing
industries may receive additional funding, tax relief, resources, and technologies.)
Rebranding needed to increased interest/excitement in Advanced Manufacturing careers.
o Industry needs to lead re-imaging efforts.
o Parents should be targets.
o Marketing may include high school academy models.
Department of Corrections is in exploration phase of manufacturing pathway implementation.
Need for employability skills (soft skills, team work, 21st century skills).
o TSJC has professionalism rubric being used in CTE programs to emphasize strong individual work
habits.
o Greatest support needed is so often found with the first year manufacturing employees and here
education can help bridge this success.
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Appendix B
HB13-1165 Legislation
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Appendix C
National Advanced Manufacturing
Competency Model
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Advanced Manufacturing Competency Model
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Appendix D
Organizations in Support of Colorado
Advanced Manufacturing
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Appendix E
Map of Colorado Community College
System Advance Manufacturing Sector
Profiles
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Appendix F
Overall Map of
Advanced Manufacturing
Pathways
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