Partnerships with manufacturers throughout this region fuel much of the work of LancasterMakes. Strong companies providing stable, well-paying jobs are foundational to healthy communities. We know the importance of families to the vitality of a community, but families cannot remain here without those those jobs paying decent wages. Manufacturers do their part to offer that kind of employment to Lancaster County residents with the necessary skills.
Our manufacturing partners take on great risk. Neither the machinery nor the technology they use comes cheap. To be competitive in the global market, manufacturers need to operate at peak performance and efficiency. This nearly always leads to multi-million dollar investments in state-of-the-art equipment and machinery. As the laser-cutters, CNC machines, and other equipment gets more high-tech, manufacturers need workers with more skills.
Because of the need for a workforce with greater skills, not to mention soft skills, our manufacturers partner with Lancaster County Career & Technical Center and Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology to ensure the curriculum aligns with the needs of the industry.
So, while communities rely on manufacturers to provide stable, quality jobs to support families, these same manufacturers also rely on communities to provide them with a quality workforce. When both are on the same page, communities thrive.
LancasterMakes continues to bring these two groups, manufacturers and those in the labor pool, together. A number of our manufacturing partners have opened their doors to high school students from around the county for the annual MFG Day tours. These annual events promote manufacturing as a viable career pathway, and it gives students exposure to what a factor today looks like. While we don’t necessarily recommend it, many shops are so clean you can eat off the floor.
The future of manufacturing looks bright. Our governor has implemented the Manufacturing PA initiative to bolster manufacturers. Part of the effort is to attract more high school students to pursue these kinds of jobs.
If you are a manufacturer who has not partnered with us on MFG Day, we would like to encourage you to consider it. One of our volunteers would appreciate the opportunity to meet with you and discuss the benefits. As LancasterMakes better understands the needs of the manufacturing community, we can work toward providing solutions for workforce development and recruiting qualified workers.
We look forward to hearing from you. Please reach out to us on our contact page.
