Utah’s manufacturing community is committed to developing a skilled manufacturing workforce. As part of that commitment, Utah Manufacturers Association employers have led efforts this past year to create, track, and evaluate a targeted education and messaging campaign for talent pipeline development.
Through a $250,000 grant provided by DWS as well as financial and in-kind contributions from Utah manufacturers, over 400 companies and eight Utah post-secondary institutions piloted a comprehensive statewide outreach and messaging campaign: “Make Manufacturing Your Future”. The major objectives for the campaign were: (a) educate adult learners and graduating high school students about manufacturing as a valid career pathway; (b) increase statewide enrollment in technician level manufacturing training within one year by 150 students. Utah Manufacturers Association used a baseline of 674 total students enrolled Sept. 30, 2016 with a pilot goal to enroll 824 students by Sept. 30, 2017. As of July 21st, the number of new enrollees in programs such as advanced manufacturing, automation, welding, and CNC machining totaled 1,612 statewide, exceeding the project goal by 938 new enrollees. Approximately 33% of these new enrollees represented high school students who opted to jump start education through concurrent manufacturing coursework from a regional post-secondary institution.
We are very pleased with the success of the “Make Manufacturing Your Future” campaign. It has been an incredible success in reaching out to and enrolling future employees in manufacturing related career pathways.
“Make Manufacturing Your Future’s” campaign focused on a consistent look, feel, and message through its website www.exploremfg.org; coordinated social media campaign via Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter; and employers and education partner messaging at career fairs and onsite company visits. Metrics contributing to the 1,612 new enrollees showed over 5,787 students had been exposed to manufacturing specific pathways through targeted activities and 11,834 new contacts were established through social media channels.
This campaign was successful we believe in part because of outreach efforts in the world where millennials live. Social media is all around us and has been a very effective method of educating today’s generation of the tremendous possibilities of a career in manufacturing.
For more information about “Make Manufacturing Your Future”, please contact Todd Bingham, at 801-363-3885 or email at [email protected]
