Bringing manufacturing skills to students

The News Herald (Baker) - The Manufacturing Advocacy & Growth Network estimates that 60,000 Northeast Ohio manufacturing jobs will open up within the next 10 to 15 years because of retiring baby boomers. Area business owners like Kevin Johnson of Fischer Special Tooling in Mentor believe a degree program like the AWT's will help the region figure out who will replace those retirees. However, those potential students must be sold on any form of manufacturing as a viable career before they decide to enroll.

The Alliance for Working Together is leading the effort, and Lakeland Community College and the Auburn Career Center are providing most of the assists. The results of the meetings and strategic planning will be on display this fall when Lakeland officially begins offering its AWT Consortium Associate of Applied Science degree. The degree program will require at least 63 credits and be aligned with curriculum supported by the National Association of Manufacturers and its industry standards and skills certification system.

The program, of course, must first succeed at Lakeland and Auburn. But could it influence large universities throughout the state and nation? Sustar confidently answered that question with a quick quip. "They're gonna copy us like you wouldn't believe," he said.