Community

The partners at LancasterMakes were pleased when Gov. Tom Wolf launched Manufacturing PA in October 2017. The governor called it “a new initiative to support manufacturing and link job training to career pathways to ensure that training leads not simply to any job, but to careers that provide higher pay and opportunities for advancement with Pennsylvania manufacturers in today’s global economy.”

Our partners have been longtime advocates of promoting the value of blue-collar jobs because of the economic impact of manufacturing. The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Pennsylvania had the eighth largest manufacturing industry in the country with an $84 billion economic impact across the state.

Manufacturing jobs help communities, like ours in Lancaster County, because of how many times a dollar turns over. For example, when a new manufacturing plant is built, or one expands, and new jobs are created in the community, there will be other jobs needed as a result. With more people working in the community, there will be more food sold in grocery stores, more dinners served in restaurants, more clothes sold in retail shops, more vehicles purchased and serviced, and so on.

For these reasons, and more, it becomes vital to show students the importance of these jobs and the kinds of money that can be made by working them. Pennsylvania’s average annual wage in manufacturing is nearly 15 percent higher than the average salary across the state, according to data from the Quarterly Census of Employment Wages.

Connect People

As LancasterMakes continues to spread this good news of making things, we are looking to connect with like-minded people who can join this effort in promoting a brighter future for our kids, our communities, and our state.

We need educators who will help train, prepare and guide students toward manufacturing jobs; we need manufacturers who will invite these students into their facilities to give them a glimpse into modern factories, where innovation, research and development happen; we need elected officials to support our efforts; we need business leaders to invest in this endeavor; we need community leaders to join with us and presenting a united front about the value of careers like manufacturing, welding, construction, and 3D printing; and we need parents to understand there are alternative avenues for their children other than college, like trades being taught at vocational and technical schools.

To find out more how your talents and skills can contribute to the success of LancasterMakes, reach out to us on our contact/feedback page.