On Thursday, October 27, The Manufacturing Institute will officially launch a new, fast-track education and training program, built on the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM)-Endorsed Manufacturing Skills Certification System and designed to both accelerate unemployed and transitioning workers’ return to work and meet the high demand for workers in precision machining jobs in manufacturing.

The launch will be announced at an event at Productivity, Inc. in Plymouth, MN, in conjunction with Minnesota Manufacturers Week. The Manufacturing Institute and ACT will join members of the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, the leadership of Dunwoody College of Technology and South Central College, the state Department of Employment and Economic Development, and manufacturing executives from Minnesota to present the initiative. National Association of Manufacturers President Jay Timmons, Small Business Administration Administrator Karen Mills, and Senator Amy Klobuchar will also participate in the event to emphasize the critical importance of workforce training in order to create jobs in the manufacturing sector.

“Access to a highly skilled and educated workforce is the most important factor in a manufacturer’s ability to innovate, compete globally, and create jobs,” said Emily DeRocco, president, The Manufacturing Institute. “Recent studies reveal that there are as many as 600,000 jobs unfilled in manufacturing today because of a lack of qualified workers with the right skills, particularly in skilled production. Right Skills Now is an accelerated education solution that will train and deliver just-in-time talent to manufacturers so they can sustain and expand operations.”

Minnesota is the first state in the nation to implement this accelerated path built on the Manufacturing Skills Certification System endorsed by the National Association of Manufacturers. Right Skills Now allows individuals to earn college credit and national industry certifications in 16 weeks, preparing them for immediate employment in high-quality manufacturing jobs and giving them a solid foundation to advance in higher education and careers.

Training partners include ACT, the certifying body for the National Career Readiness Certificate – the foundational credential in the Manufacturing Skills Certification System – and the National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS), the certifying body for the series of machining and metalworking credentials. “This program is really going to align the skills that are needed at companies like mine with what is being taught in the schools today—to fill those positions that are currently open and to help us grow our businesses,” said Darlene Miller, president/CEO, Permac Industries in Burnsville, Minnesota. Right Skills Now is being launched at Dunwoody College of Technology in Minneapolis and the South Central Community College campuses in Faribault and North Mankato. Plans to expand the program to other states and to include skills in production and welding are currently underway.   President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness Advanced Manufacturing Listening and Action Session to Launch Right Skills Now Workforce Training Program

        Discussion Participants:

• Administrator Karen Mills, US Small Business Administration
• US Senator Amy Klobuchar
• Jay Timmons, President, National Association of Manufacturers
• Darlene Miller, CEO, Permac Industries, Member, President’s Jobs Council
• Chris Che, CEO, Hooven-Dayton, Member, President’s Jobs Council
• Keith Stover, President, South Central College
• Martin Scaglione, President and Chief Operating Officer, ACT's Workforce Development Division
• Kimberly Arrigoni, Board of Directors, National Institute for Metalworking Skills
• E.J. Daigle, Dunwoody College of Technology
• Mike Anderson, Dunwoody College of Technology
• Jennifer McNelly, Senior Vice President, The Manufacturing Institute

These senior Administration officials and Members of the President’s Jobs Council will be joined for the discussion by an audience of local business leaders, community leaders and leaders in the manufacturing sector. Time: 1:00pm-3:00pm CT Location: Productivity, Inc. 15150 25th Avenue North Plymouth, MN 55447.