'Pathways to Competitiveness' to Benefit Oh-Penn
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Industry Needs You is beginning a skills gap analysis for the five-county Oh-Penn Interstate Region. The initiative is the outreach campaign conducted on behalf of the Industry Partners of Lawrence and Mercer Counties of Pennsylvania by the West Central Job Partnership.
The analysis is one component of a broader initiative that will expand the effort beyond the two counties in western Pennsylvania, says Eric Karmecy, assistant director of workforce development with the West Central Job Partnership. And it is one aspect of the Pathways to Competitiveness project funded by a $6 million Workforce Innovation Fund grant awarded last June to the Oh-Penn Interstate Region.
Manufacturing represents nearly 11% of total employment in the Oh-Penn region and generates $2.66 billion in total earnings annually, making it critically important to “immediately address the growing shortages in skilled workers that are manufacturers are facing,” according to a summary of the grant.
Since 2009, Industry Needs You has been the “marketing brand or the marketing arm of our manufacturing coalition” in Mercer and Lawrence counties, Karmecy says. West Central is serving as fiscal agent for the grant and he is serving as project director of the grant.
Industry Needs You has two primary objectives, Karmecy says. One is developing a pipeline to manufacturing careers for both youth and the general public. “We’ve focused a lot of time on that pipeline development, particularly with young people,” he says.
The other objective is developing training, not just for entry-level workers but to update the skills of existing workers, “moving people through career ladders and filling those vacancies,” Karmecy says..
Industry in general struggles to find qualified skilled workers so that as existing workers retire “we find ourselves short of skilled labor,” says Amy Weller, director of community and employee development at Ellwood Crankshaft Group, Hermitage, Pa. Ellwood Crankshaft is one of the employer partners involved in Industry Needs You.
“Ellwood really just saw the value in the mission and what they’re doing,” Weller says.
Ellwood needs machinists, particularly those who understand and can operate CNC machines, including the new 5-axis machines. Industry Needs You is “making a nice dent” in planting the seed in educators, students and parents “to change the perception of what a 21st century manufacturer can offer,” Weller says.
One reason for the five-county focus is the “significant populations that are migrating” between counties -- and between the two states -- for work opportunities, Karmecy says.
“This whole idea of our work stopping at the border doesn’t do our citizens any good,” he remarks. Successful economies look at regions. “We owe it to the communities to take a broader, more flexible approach,” he says.
Whether in Sharon or Youngstown, one issue is that as qualified workers retire, many younger people who might have filled their positions have left the area, says Michael Hrycyk, vice president of human resources at NLMK Pennsylvania Corp. in Farrell, Pa. “It impedes the ability of people who want to grow companies,” he remarks. Even production jobs require computer skills, he notes. Electricians need to understand instrumentation.
NLMK Pennsylvania, formerly known as Duferco Farrell Corp., manufactures and supplies metal products, and is another Industry Needs You partner.
Hrycyk notes that work at the new V&M Star mill in Youngstown has “taken a lot of the talent away.” Among NLMK’s specific needs are for electrical and mechanical maintenance men, and people who can operate overhead crane equipment, he says.
In addition to looking to trade schools to fill needs, he looks for people coming from other industries. The former RG Steel mill in Warren has been “a great resource for us,” he says, “but the basic problem we’re trying to address – and it won’t change for an extended period of time – is talent in the area. Until we have a reason to stay, the best and brightest tend to move away from the area.”
Using funds provided by the grant, along with the expertise and guidance from both the Industry Partners and the Mahoning Valley Manufacturers Coalition, Industry Needs You will be expanded throughout the five-county region. The brand and its website will be used to educate students, teachers, school administrators and the general public about the opportunities regional manufacturers offer.
“We’re at a stage where we’re trying to feel our way through making a concerted effort to brand it across five counties,” Karmecy says, acknowledging there are “a lot of sensitivities” to deal with while doing that. “We’re at the very initial stages of this,” he says.
Work has gotten under way on the skills gap analysis, and a group has been hired for that, Karmecy says. “There’s work being done right now to develop the project plan,” he says. Conversations have begun with key stakeholders such as educators and employers regarding what they expect to result from the effort. The analysis should begin in late this month or early next month.
Another Industry Needs You partner, Xaloy Inc. in New Castle, Pa., reports it has specific hiring issues filling two positions, welders and qualified machine operators, particularly in its Pulaski and Youngstown sites, says Colleen Chamberlain, human resources administrator. The company manufactures components and melt-delivery systems for injection and extrusion machinery.
“Where we run into a shortage is we have a lot of manual equipment in our facilities” because not all of its products can be done on CNC machines. She notes that roughly half of Xaloy’s workforce will hit retirement age within the next 10 years.
“We have just such a wide array of manufacturing operations,” Karmecy explains. “We have manufacturers who are doing a lot of work in high-end tech automation and we have them in multiple sectors. We have a high concentration of manufacturing in metal and metal fabrication. … It’s amazing all the things that we manufacture,” from bottles, plastics and glass to food products such as cheese and chocolates, to fireworks.
The consultant hired to perform the skills gap analysis will meet with companies to learn the occupations hardest for them to fill. A similar analysis will also be done of the educational and training community to find out the programs in place to determine how to address those gaps and build on the existing curricula.
“Schools aren’t going to be able to produce customized candidates for every manufacturing firm. There are almost 1,200 manufacturers in the five counties,” Karmecy explains. But the initiative can at least identify “the most critical needs [and the] greatest demand.”
The project also will involve revamping the Industry Needs You website. The site at present features testimonials from job seekers, trainees, business owners and employees of local manufacturers, and “offers kind of a snapshot of high-priority occupations” in the region. It has links to education and training resources, videos and news related to manufacturing, and other data. “It gives folks an idea of where they might want to go,” Karmecy says.
While designed for students, parents, and school administrators, he admits it’s not “extremely user- friendly.” The revamped website will be more inclusive of the five-county region and more clearly identify specific skill sets and career pathways to credentialing opportunities. “Right now we‘re looking at the website to see where we can improve and make adjustments, and we’re going to be issuing [a request for proposals] for an outside party to revamp and expand” the site this summer, he says.
“We have a lot of work to do and what we’re going to do over the next six months is to revamp that website to make it more inclusive of the region, to put the Oh-Penn stamp or brand on it,” he remarks.
Xaloy’s Chamberlain hopes the initiative will get the word out to not just students but their parents “that manufacturing is a lot different than they think it is.” It offers “good to excellent wages,” she iterates. Most workplaces are also “extremely safe” and at all like the dark and dingy mills of the 1960s and ‘70s.
“It’s not just a matter of running on an assembly line,” she emphasizes. “There’s a lot more to it.”
Editor's Note: This story first appeared in the January edition of The Business Journal, which focused on the work of the Mahoning Valley Manufacturers Coalition and the Industry Partners of Mercer and Lawrence Counties. CLICK HERE to subscribe to our twice-monthly print edition.
Copyright 2013 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.