Ohio Strong Award recognizes those who excel in manufacturing and the trades

Ohio Strong Award for manufacturing and the skilled trades

As Josh Mandel, treasurer of Ohio, states, “There is a quiet crisis upon us with a shortage of young Americans pursuing careers in manufacturing and the skilled trades. According to a recent Skills Gap Survey by the Manufacturing Institute, approximately 600,000 manufacturing jobs are unfilled nationally because employers can’t find qualified workers.” In order to encourage young people to enter these fields, that state has created the “Ohio Strong Award.” The application form is available here.

If someone you know or work with demonstrates an excellent work ethic and passion for what he or she does in manufacturing and the skilled trades, you can nominate him or her for helping to make Ohio strong. These stories, which will appear on the Ohio treasurer’s website, will recognize those laborers as well as inspire the next generation of Ohioans to pursue careers in manufacturing and the trades.

 

Veterans fill manufacturing skills gap

veteran shaking hands with employer

As we continue to experience a skills gap as Baby Boomers age out of the system and we struggle to replace them with skilled labor, have you considered hiring a veteran? By 2020, this will be a pool of four-million candidates, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, who have the training, experience and dedication that lend themselves to careers in manufacturing.

PolymerOhio states that veterans are goal-minded, resilient, used to working in a fast-paced environment with little room for error, and critical-thinking, strategic leaders. On its website, PolymerOhio provides a list of local and national organizations that can help connect veterans with employers.

There’s even an informative program, “From military front lines to manufacturing front lines,” outlined in a 16-page PDF through The Manufacturing Institute’s website that helps veterans get factory ready and encourages business owners to hire them. General Electric also sponsors the Get Skills to Work coalition that connects manufacturers, educational institutions and veterans’ advocates in order to prepare future veterans for careers in manufacturing.

The benefit to veterans? Many opportunities are available for high-paying, challenging careers as they re-enter civilian life.

Today is Veterans Day! Thank you for your service.