Building Manufacturing Success in the Finger Lakes Manufacturing Forum May 16, 2006

Agenda Welcome and Introduction A Look at Manufacturing in the Finger Lakes Regional Skills Alliance Next Steps

Introductions CSW Finger Lakes Workforce Investment Board Regional Manufacturing Employers

About the Finger Lakes WIB Made up of members from both the private and public sector of Ontario, Seneca, Wayne and Yates counties Provides services to both employers and job seekers Can help with recruitment, retention, training challenges and more!

Board Areas of Focus Finger Lakes Industry Focus: – Health Care – Advanced Manufacturing – Information Technology – New Science – Skilled Trades – Tourism

Tell us about your neighborhood! What do we need to know about the Finger Lakes to understand what’s happening here? – People – Economy – Environment – Education What’s the “story” of Finger Lakes?

Manufacturing in the US Have lost 5 million manufacturing jobs in the last 30 years Job loss from increased competitiveness and off-shoring, but also from increased productivity and “lean” manufacturing Increase in high-skill manufacturing occupations Skill gaps projected – challenge re. perception of manufacturing industry

Manufacturing in New York Critically important industry for the state Half of all private-sector jobs in upstate NY are in manufacturing Wages significantly higher than non- manufacturing private sector jobs State has lost over 17,000 manufacturing jobs in last year

NY Manufacturing Employer Challenges Assembly Republican Manufacturing Task Force held regional meetings with employers and identified challenges around: – Economic Development programs – Taxes – Small Business – Energy – Workforce Development – Investment/ Access to Capital – Worker’s Compensation

Manufacturing in the Finger Lakes Manufacturing jobs are about 14% of all employment in Finger Lakes – only Retail Trade and Government are higher Employment declined by 17% between 2000 and 2005 – most of that before 2003 Small declines projected to continue Wide variety of manufacturing going on, a few key clusters

Employment by Industry

Manufacturing Subsectors

Six subsectors “pop” out – Food – Beverage Products – Plastics Products – Fabricated Metal Products – Machinery – Computer & Electronic Products Criteria: High employment in region, location quotients on par or above national, good wages Together, these six subsectors represent over 65% of all manufacturing employment in the region

Subsector Employment by County

Firm Sizes

Occupational Wage & Education Profiles of Manufacturing Subsectors See handout Paints a picture of the industries based on the wage and education levels of the workers in those industries Can help identify career ladders within and between subsectors Note: Beverage manufacturing wages are higher than they appear here – limitation of data due to unusual nature the industry in this area

Occupations/ Staffing Patterns Fifteen occupations with most employment across the six sectors in combination

Skills Most Important for Top Occupations 1. Reading Comprehension 2. Active Listening 3. Equipment Selection 4. Mathematics 5. Quality Control Analysis 6. Operation and Control 7. Speaking 8. Coordination 9. Time Management 10. Operation Monitoring 11. Active Learning 12. Critical Thinking 13. Equipment Maintenance 14. Writing 15. Monitoring

Location of Workers

Workers - Education 84% of Finger Lakes population 25 and older have at least a high school diploma (NY state = 79%) 20% have a Bachelor’s degree (NY state = 27%)

Workers - Age % of the population of working age was 57.9% in 2000 (NY state = 59.6%) Projected to grow slower than state through 2010, then start to decline By 2030, down to roughly 50% of population (NY state = 60%)

Workers - Supply Unemployment rate for 4-county region ranges from 5.4 (Yates) to 6.0 (Wayne) (NY state = 5.2, data for February 2006) A Labor Availability study was conducted for the nine-county Finger Lakes region – Indicates a pool of 30,900 “underemployed” workers – Would changes jobs for better pay – median desired rate of $20.25/hr

Workers - Commuting 50-60% of workers work in the same county where they live, many commute to other counties in the region 37,999 workers leave the 4-county region for work (31.1% of workers who live here) There is some in-commuting to balance, but the region is a net exporter of workers (-19,850)

Fact-Checking Does this data look right to you? What does it confirm about manufacturing in the Finger Lakes? What doesn’t it tell us that we need to know?

The Other Side of the Story Quantitative vs. Qualitative - data only takes us so far Need to get a local “on-the-ground” perspective – focus groups What challenges are you facing? What are your big issues/concerns? What changes are coming?

Focus Group Topics Focus groups coming in June Topics might include: – Skill level of workers (production/skilled trades) – Critical and hard-to-fill occupations – Challenges with the pipeline of workers – Relationships with schools, workforce system, each other – Career ladders Anything else?

Regional Skills Alliance – A Possible Solution to Challenges? This meeting, and the focus groups, are to help the board as it investigates forming a Regional Skills Alliance (RSA) RSAs help employers, educators and the workforce system to collaborate for their mutual benefit

Goals of an RSA To create a business-driven, business- focused partnership to address workforce needs in specific region, industry To address worker shortages, skill shortages, training mismatches, and help with possible process improvements To impact regional policy and economic development planning

Principles Regional Flexible Collaborative Industry-led Data driven Innovative Network

Roles Champions Convener Other Important Players

RSA Life Cycle LAUNCH CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT IMPLEMENTATION DESIGN OUTCOMES

Launch Needs Assessment Feasibility Study Skills Shortage Mapping Target Sector ID and Selection Initial Convening and Planning

Design Engagement Strategy Marketing Communication Strategy Sustainability Strategy Futuring/Trend Analysis Strategy Metrics Evaluation Strategy

Implementation Key Strategies Development of Tools and Techniques: – Image Design – Career Ladders / Lattices – Courses and Curriculum – Learning Networks

Continuous Improvement Evaluation Lessons Learned Case Studies

Outcomes Employers: Increased pool of skilled labor, higher work quality, reduced turnover Communities: Leadership and ownership from local industries, new and strengthened partnerships, alignment and leveraging or resources and strategies, short and long- term focus, sustain and replicate initiative Labor Force: More opportunities to enter and advance within and across employers, higher wages, lower turnover

Outcomes Leadership /Ownership by Local Industries Building (strengthening) Community Partnerships Long range planning Leveraging of resources New, improved training Building sustainability Career ladder/lattices opportunities Replicability

Focus Where will it be? – Pipeline: Emerging or Future Workforce – Incumbent Workers – Displaced Workers Low Income? What will it include? – Curriculum and Courses – Career Ladders – Policy Innovations – Image ‘making’ Long term/short term?

Next Steps June – Focus Groups – manufacturing employers, education and training providers, workers (especially skilled trades) August – November – formation of an advisory committee to lead the launch of the RSA

The Ultimate Goal Improved situation for manufacturers in the Finger Lakes that produces: – Economic growth – Sought after jobs – Highly skilled workers – Sustainable wages – A positive image for the industry