Manufacturing Training Connects Qualified Job Seekers & Employers

When employers in thriving industries can connect with a highly trained and skilled workforce, sustainable community development has the opportunity to take root and grow.
The Foundation for the Mid South is collaborating with public and private partners in the Mississippi Delta region to facilitate these essential connections, which support economic stability and success for both individuals and companies.
In June, the Foundation and its partners – including the South Delta Planning and Development District (SDPDD) and the Mississippi Delta Community College (MDCC) – began offering manufacturing training courses at local community colleges, available to all interested participants.
 
Finding Solutions to Community Development Challenges The Mississippi Delta region faces significant challenges that stand in the way of economic growth. To compete in the Mid South economy, manufacturing companies in the region are looking for employees with specialized skills, but many residents don’t have information about or access to the training necessary to fill this gap.
The manufacturing training partnership is focused on removing this obstacle by making post-secondary credentials more accessible and easy to complete. Low-income residents receive education that is directly applicable to living-wage employment when they graduate, and businesses have a rich pool of qualified workers to help them fulfill their goals. Classes vary depending on the community college, with some geared toward building basic manufacturing skills among job seekers and others tailored to more advanced technology for employed workers who want to advance in their area of expertise.
“We have a total of 24 currently enrolled at two sites,” said Dru Morgan, workforce education director of MDCC’s Capps Technology Center. “[Capps] provides customized training solutions to prepare job seekers and existing workers for equipment upgrades, advanced technology and process changes, new healthcare regulations, leadership and federally mandated OSHA requirements.”
 
“We collaborate with economic developers, community leaders, the Mississippi Department of Employment Security and business representatives to develop market-driven training and to be responsive to the needs of employers and job seekers.”

Participants can register in the training program on rolling basis until classes are filled, and several different public, private and philanthropic funding sources contribute to offset the costs to individuals. Students pay a course entry fee of $50, but if they complete the program – which usually total 80 to 85 hours and can last from 6 to 12 weeks – the Foundation for the Mid South will reimburse that fee, as well as give them a $50 gas card to help them go to additional job interviews.
From Graduation to Employment Manufacturing employers from the Delta region come to the training program graduation ceremony and conduct on-site interviews with graduates, and many interviews result in job offers. Participants have completed three courses to date, all of which had a high employment rate:
Class 1: 32 participants, 21 employed to date, 66% Entered Employment Rate (EER)
Class 2: 17 participants, 12 employed to date, 71% EER
Class 3: 11 participants, 8 employed to date, 73% EER
Total: 60 participants, 41 employed to date, 68.3% EER
“There are so many manufacturing companies in the Delta – in Greenville, in Tunica, Clarksville, Cleveland, Greenwood,” said Mitzi Woods, SDPDD’s Workforce Investment Act director.
“Manufacturing companies tell us that people come to them much more prepared to work if they go through manufacturing skills training. The goal is to get some people trained to have a pipeline of trained workers that are ready to go to work when a company starts hiring. Like the automotive supply company in Cleveland is ready to expand; they’re wanting to get people in.”
The manufacturing training partnership will continue until at least December 2015, with new classes starting regularly throughout the Delta region.
“More than anything, this is the perfect thing we set out to do in the beginning.  This training course is a wonderful example of workforce entities, whether they’re public or private or philanthropic, all coming together for collective impact… collaboration in its best form.”  ,” said Justin Burch, the FMS Community Development Program Associate.