By Gitte Laasby, Truth Staff
ELKHART -- Technological skills are key for manufacturing workers to keep their jobs and for the industry to survive in Indiana.
As companies move to higher-skilled jobs to compete with businesses overseas, workers who don't have technological knowledge to perform those jobs are likely to get sidetracked, local business leaders say.
"A lot of the basic manufacturing jobs, which are unskilled or lesser-skilled jobs, are going to China, Mexico and Central Europe," said Jerry Langley, chairman of the Northern Indiana Workforce Board. "We're trying to attract higher-paying jobs, but they require skills. People who aren't going on to college don't have the skills that our workers need."
A bachelor's degree is often preferred for advanced positions, but entry-level workers can sometimes do with an associate degree or a few technical courses at a community college.
Many students entering the industry straight out of high school aren't prepared to perform manufacturing jobs, said Juan Manigault, president and CEO of the NIWB.
"Companies spend an exorbitant amount for basic skills from basic math to basic reading to get their work force ready to produce the products the company needs to make money," he said. "If you're a carpenter, you'll have to pass baseline math and Algebra 1. If you can't handle fractions, you're not going to get an apprenticeship."
The increasing demand for technological skills also poses a challenge for workers who have been in the industry for many years. Companies have to invest in the work force by continually upgrading their skills -- for instance, through state grants, Manigault said.
"A company has to look at strategically how they'll update. It shouldn't be a one-time shot. It needs to be an ongoing thing. When we talk about our global competition, one of the things interesting about China and India is, their companies had invested in their people," he said.
At AE Techron Inc. in Elkhart, workers already have advanced technical skills. The company builds products for the aerospace, medical and military industries, and employees must engineer and assemble items with great precision.
Some products must be able to handle a lightning strike or endure other extreme conditions. Even a grain of dirt between two components could make an item explode and lead to a week-long setback, said co-owner Larry Shank.
"The penalties if it's not right and the testing to ensure that it works over all these conditions, the kind of person that can do that, there aren't many of those in the state," he said.
In Shank's opinion, Elkhart County isn't quite up to speed when it comes to ensuring workers have the technological skills so their jobs aren't outsourced.
"I have a very, very strong belief that the kind of business I'm doing is the future of the U.S. We're just under 20 employees and we're doing something very technical," Shank said.
"The small, niche high-tech company is really where the future of Indiana is. People that are confident with computer skills and are trained across a range of skills. You need to have a broad background and you need to be current."
To increase competitiveness and improve technological skills, Elkhart County business leaders and government officials are working on building relationships with universities that could be mutually beneficial.
"I'm really excited to see the IU campus and the Purdue extension moving here and I think we'll make use of that," Shank said.
"Purdue said they have 1,200 patents that nobody's doing anything with. If we had someone who actually looked through those and matched those two up, that would be a marvelous way to plant college students in this town, if there's a company in an industry that can use that."
Companies would get their work done. College students would get real-world experience and a better chance of landing a job after graduation. And the community would keep graduates in the area.
"Those kinds of initiatives are examples of where you're able to drive business back in town," Shank said.