Keeping our workforce edge is critical to green manufacturing success
In this edition of Indiana Connections, you'll read an Earth Day re-cap of Indiana's many recent successes in renewable energy and clean technologies. It's a story that illustrates the state's position on the leading edge of the green manufacturing revolution, at ground zero of a booming cleantech market.We've become a leader in manufacturing electric vehicles and their components, with companies like Bright Automotive, EnerDel (the only U.S. manufacturer of advanced batteries for plug-in vehicles), Remy (the largest U.S. manufacturer of hybrid engines), Delphi (which is adding a new production facility in Kokomo to manufacture products for the electric drive vehicle market), Allison Transmission, Cummins and many more.
In particular, Northern Indiana is emerging as an electric vehicle hub. Last year brought the great news that Think North America had chosen Elkhart as the site of its first U.S. factory for its line of electric cars, joining Electric Motors Corp and NaviStar as the hub of a growing green vehicle cluster along the state's northern border. In all, Indiana is the second-largest recipient of federal stimulus funds for vehicle electrification, with grants going to companies across the state.
Delaware County is also becoming a hub for wind energy manufacturing. Brevini Wind and VAT, two leading producers of wind turbines and their components, have both chosen east-central Indiana as home for North American manufacturing operations.
The list of cleantech manufacturing stories goes on and on. Clearly, the 'green' sector is one area where doing the right thing for the environment also means doing the profitable thing for Indiana's manufacturing industries.
When it comes to clean technologies and advanced manufacturing in general, Indiana is eclipsing the high-tech markets on both coasts with our combination of manufacturing know-how and heritage of automotive innovation. The Kauffman Foundation has ranked Indiana number one in advanced manufacturing technology in its annual New Economy Index.
But to maintain our competitive advantage in this market, we can't ignore the indispensable ingredient in today's knowledge-based economy – human capital.
There are very few 'low skill' jobs left in manufacturing in general today. In a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York ('A Leaner, More Skilled U.S. Manufacturing Workforce'), economists divided manufacturing jobs into low-, medium- and high-skill and observed that between 1982 and 2002, high-skill manufacturing occupations grew 37% while low- and medium-skill jobs declined 24% and 18% respectively. Today's manufacturing jobs demand a greater level of education, technical skills and technological expertise than ever before.
Fortunately, Indiana boasts a significant manufacturing workforce, trained over the course of decades, benefiting from the rich reservoir of engineering talent left from projects like General Motors' engineering of the EV1 (the first modern electric car) here in the 1980s. But as more and more Baby Boomers begin retiring, we need to replenish our workforce pipeline for the highly-skilled manufacturing job opportunities of today and tomorrow, including those in the energy and clean technologies sectors.
In fact, this 'tidal wave' of replacement workers needs new high-tech skills even more than their predecessors; fortunately, today's younger generation is the most tech-savvy in history. Now it's just a matter of attracting and qualifying then for these opportunities.
The marketing challenge isn't insurmountable. Though many young people still mistakenly regard manufacturing careers as menial assembly-line positions, the high-tech, high-wage nature of these jobs is compelling once understood (especially in today's job market). The green emphasis of clean technology manufacturing is also appealing to the Millennial Generation, who tend to place a high priority on environmental protection.
Conexus Indiana is working to get the message out about high-tech manufacturing careers through our Dream It. Do It. campaign, which includes a dedicated website, Dream It Green (dreamitdoitindiana.com/dreamitgreen/) showcasing green manufacturing jobs.
But we also need to back up marketing with substance, the specific education and training programs to meet the workforce requirements of this growing industry, and get young Hoosiers ready for work on day one.
We were pleased to hear about Ivy Tech's recent $4.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to train displaced workers for 'smart grid' manufacturing jobs, working with Conexus' sister initiative, the Energy Systems Network. Conexus is working with Ivy Tech and other educational partners to ensure that advanced manufacturing curricula are up to date and relevant to the needs of Indiana companies, including our growing cleantech sector.
In short, Indiana has a lot to be proud of during this Earth Day week – our manufacturing sector is 'greener' by the day, with companies doing their part to put more electric cars on our highways and making renewable energy a realistic option for consumers – all while creating great new jobs for Hoosiers. Making sure the next generation of Hoosiers has the training to take advantage of these careers will do more to keep the momentum going than any tax break or economic incentive.
Steve Dwyer is President & CEO of Conexus Indiana, the state's advanced manufacturing and logistics initiative; he formerly served as Chief Operating Officer for Rolls-Royce North America in Indianapolis.