Quarter Four 2006—Issue Number 38

The Manufacturing Institute/Center for Workforce Success Receives Lumina Foundation Grant for Business Champions
Lumina Foundation has awarded a grant of $538,000 to The Manufacturing Institute/Center for Workforce Success and its partners, the American Association of Community Colleges and the Corporation for a Skilled Workforce, for Business Champions, an initiative to catalyze business leadership to support policies that expand educational opportunities aimed at building a competitive U.S. workforce.
"Business Champions will expand, mobilize and amplify the ‘business voice’ in support of higher education that is more closely aligned with the needs of the workforce. The business leaders will work with elected policymakers, higher education officials and employers in their regions and states to improve the workforce development capacity of community colleges and reduce the cost of higher education,” noted Phyllis Eisen, vice president and executive director of The Manufacturing Institute’s Center for Workforce Success. The Lumina grant builds on work initially supported by The Ford Foundation, which continues to be a funder of this work. For more information go to Business Champions.

New Report Calls For Transformation of American Education System
Tough Choices or Tough Times, the report of the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce, states that the mediocre results produced by America's expensive elementary and secondary education system is not preparing individuals to be competitive in the 21st century global workplace. According to commissioner John Engler, President & CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers, "In the global race for talent and skills we will not win if we don't change how we prepare our young people." The report calls for the biggest overhaul of U. S. education in a century. Members of the commission include former governors, senators, cabinet secretaries, business and labor leaders, civil rights leaders and education and job training experts. To read the complete report go to Tough Choices.</ a>

Center for Workforce Success Convenes Sector Workforce Development Meeting
On November 16-17, the CWS and its partner, the National Network of Sector Partners, convened a meeting for current and potential workforce development leaders to gain a deeper understanding of how states are thinking about workforce development as economic development. The methods for making that happen explored at the meeting included employer engagement and a “sectoral” focus. Also attending the meeting were members of the National Association of Manufacturers' Council of Manufacturing Associations, Employer Association Group and State Association Group who gained opportunities for peer-to-peer learning and exploration of workforce development “sector” initiatives. A comprehensive presentation was made by the National Governors Association Pennsylvania State Sector Team. For more information go to s ector workforce development.

Dream It. Do It. Web Site Wins Highest Honors For Creative Excellence From International Award Body
The Dream It. Do It. Web site was awarded a 2006 International Davey Gold Award-the highest honors for creative excellence-by the prestigious International Academy of the Visual Arts, an invitation-only member-based organization of leading professionals from various disciplines of the visual arts dedicated to embracing progress and the evolving nature of traditional and interactive media. 2006 Davey Award winners were selected from among 3,400 entries from small ad agencies, interactive agencies, production firms, in-house creative professionals, graphic designers, design firms, and public relations firms from all over the world. For more information, go to Dream It. Do It.

Southwest Virginia Launches Dream It. Do It. Campaign
Smyth and Washington Counties in Southwest Virginia launched the nation's first rural demonstration of the Dream It. Do It. campaign on October 24th. The Smyth-Washington Regional Workforce Consortium received a $900,000 grant from the Virginia Works program – with an equal amount committed by local manufacturers, community colleges and county governments – to fund training and promotion of the Dream It. Do It. Campaign in SW Virginia. “Hundreds of manufacturing jobs are currently available in Smyth and Washington Counties, and they need to be filled with a workforce that is regionally trained,” said Bruce Kravitz, executive director of Dream It. Do It. SW Virginia. “Filling those jobs with skilled individuals will have a big impact on the health of our economy and on economic development in the region,” said Kravitz. For more information, go to Dream It. Do It.

Dream It. Do It. to Launch Fourth Regional Campaign in Northeast Ohio in January
The Manufacturing Advocacy and Growth Network (MAGNET) partnered with The Manufacturing Institute to lead the Dream It. Do It. campaign for Northeast Ohio. This is the fourth regional Dream It. Do It. campaign including the pilot in Kansas City region and recent launches in Nebraska and Southwest Virginia. The stated goals of MAGNET for this campaign are to elevate the image, competitiveness and talent pool for manufacturing. The leadership team will hold seven regional launch events around Northeast Ohio. For more information go to the Dream It. Do It. events calendar.