February 3, 2012
College, Business
Leaders Collaborate to ID Workforce Development Opportunities
During
the fall of 2011, the Association of Washington Business partnered with the Washington
State Board for Community & Technical Colleges to sponsor business
leader focus groups in five regions of the state. The purpose of the focus
group meetings was to gain a better understanding of Washington state's
business and industry workforce needs and perceptions of Washington's community
and technical colleges.
Recognizing
the difficult economic climate faced by the colleges, businesses stated that
the biggest benefit to having a community college system was for workforce
development efforts. Business also identified the need to keep both equipment
and faculty updated especially in times of high unemployment and high worker
demand. SBCTC and AWB have continued the conversation holding two follow-up
meetings between the leadership of the Washington Association of Community and
Technical Colleges and AWB. Check the AWB
Institute website in February for a full report from the focus groups.
In
Case You Missed It: New AWBI Manufacturing Report
Rising power costs and the need for skilled workers top the list of concerns
for Washington manufacturers, according to a
new report from the AWB Institute. The report, "Challenges &
Opportunities for Manufacturers in Washington State," featured the findings
from a three-month, six-city tour conducted by the business group, talking with
Washington state manufacturers about key issues affecting employment and the
general business climate. AWB Institute staff met with 70 small, medium and
large manufacturers. "If there's one thing this tour underscored is the
value of this industry to Washington state," said Amy Johnson, a strategic
consultant to AWB and the Institute.
U.S.
Still Leads The World In Manufacturing, SAS Executive Writes
In an op-ed in
IndustryWeek (1/27), Michael Newkirk, the director of Global Manufacturing
& Supply Chain Product Marketing for SAS, writes that "the
conventional wisdom of the day is all about the decline of U.S.
manufacturing." At the National Association of Manufacturers Board of
Directors meeting "were facts about U.S. manufacturing that tell a much
different story." Newkirk notes that the U.S. still leads the world in
manufacturing and the percent of GDP that manufacturing makes up has remained
about the same for the past three decades. "Manufacturing in the U.S. is
the engine that has largely pulled not only the U.S. economy out of the ditch,
but the world economy as well."
Experts
Discuss Challenges Facing Manufacturing Industry
On its website, the PBS
Newshour (1/26, Suarez) reported, "The U.S. remains the world's largest
manufacturing economy. Roughly 9 percent of the American workforce - about 12
million Americans - are employed directly in manufacturing today." To
encourage the opening of new factories, President Obama "is proposing more
training, additional education and new tax incentives." Host Ray Suarez
discussed the issue with Robert Reich, secretary of labor in the first Clinton
administration and a professor of public policy at the University of California
at Berkeley; Jack McDougle, senior vice president at the Council on
Competitiveness; and Martin Schmidt, associate provost at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology.
On Public
Radio International's (1/26) The Takeway, Beri Fox, president and CEO of
Marble King in West Virginia, and Peter Morici, a macro-economist and professor
of international business at the University of Maryland, discussed the issue
with host John Hockenberry.
Don C. Brunell Scholarship Winners Announced
Congratulations to Derek Dougan and
Mackenzie Danboy, winners of the 2012 Don C. Brunell Scholarships for Future
Leaders, awarded by the AWB Institute. Dougan, a senior at Blaine High School
and Danboy, a freshman at the University of San Diego, were each awarded a $750
award. Scholarships were determined based on the applicant's stated career
goals, academic merit, school/volunteer/work experience. The scholarships were
created by the Institute in 2009 to honor AWB President Don Brunell and to
foster student interest in business.
Advice
for High School Students and Those who Advise Them
A new report
by the Georgetown Center for Education and Workforce shows the impact degree
selection has on employability. According to the report, due to a significant
reduction in new building and the construction trades, an architecture degree
had the worst unemployment rate, 13.9 percent, for new college graduates. The
employment areas of education, health care, and business and professional
services have been the most favorable for recent college graduates, the report
noted. Unemployment right after college can be disheartening and delays entry into
the economic system for younger generations.
WANTED:
Imagination, Insight and Enthusiasm
AWB Institute is looking for
business representatives to lend their talent, expertise and (a little) time to
serve on selected advisory committees for the community/technical college
system. If you or someone from your company would be interested in investing a
small amount of time to help guide these community college groups, or would
like more information, contact Amy Johnson at amykj@awb.org, or 509.599.0404.
McGladrey
Monitor Offers Best Practices of Thriving and Growing Companies
McGladrey has launched the Winter 2011-12 edition of its Manufacturing &
Distribution Monitor,
which tracks key industry benchmarks and salient business issues of concern to
industry executives. For an investment totaling less than five minutes of time,
respondents receive:
- Access to a customized, real-time dashboard where you can review and compare your responses in multiple ways against the aggregated answers of your industry peers across the country.
- Continuous tracking of key quarterly benchmarks that accrue with each survey you take and a multifaceted display of data focusing on quarterly strategic management issues of topical importance to your business.
- Periodical reports featuring in-depth analysis of the quarterly aggregated findings.
AWB names winners of 2012 Better Workplace Awards
Congratulations to the winners of this year's Better Workplace Awards, AWB's annual recognition employers that have set the bar for workplace safety, job training and advancement, and innovative benefit and compensation programs. The winners include: Ash Grove Cement Company, Seattle; Fluor Federal Services, Richland; Clark Nuber, Bellevue; Sonderen Packaging, Spokane; Ryan, Bellevue; Wheelabrator Spokane Inc., Spokane; and SKILS'KIN, Spokane.
Businesses Want to Expand Workforce, Say Regulations Prevent It
Small business owners say they need Washington regulators and legislators to get out of their way before they feel optimistic enough to start hiring, according to the results of the U.S. Chamber's quarterly Small Business Outlook Survey. With millions of Americans still out of work, it will take small business hiring to make a dent in the unemployment rate. The survey of 1,332 small business owners-conducted from Dec. 30, 2011 to Jan. 6, 2012 -indicated that two-thirds of small business owners have no plans to hire in 2012. Just 19 percent reported plans to hire, and 11 percent intend to reduce their workforce. The report further stated that taxation, regulation, and legislation from Washington make it harder for their businesses to hire more employees, and that the 2010 federal health care law makes it harder to hire. This is similar to what AWBI staff heard during their listening sessions with manufacturers.
Contact the AWB Institute
If you have any questions about the content of this newsletter, or you would like to know more about the AWB Institute, please contact us directly:
- Kris Johnson, AWB Vice President, Operations
- Amy Johnson, Strategic Consultant
- Mike Hudson, Project Manager
