The NAM partnered with the Atlantic today to host the New Work Era forum at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.  The event featured Manufacturing Institute President Emily DeRocco as well as NAM members Nick Pinchuk, Chair and CEO of Snap-On Inc.; Bob Corteau, President, SAP North America; and Mike Morris, Chair and CEO of American Electric Power Company, Inc.  They joined Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, AOL co-founder Steve Case, Senator Mark Warner, and others in the day’s discussion about how to close the skills gap and create jobs in America.

You can watch the day’s events here.

Here are some photos of the event (courtesy of The Atlantic/GE Gargallo Photography)

From left to right: Amanda Ripley, Contributor, The Atlantic; Emily DeRocco, President, The Manufacturing Institute; John Sexton, President, New York University; Bob Courteau, President, SAP North America; Bob Templin, President, Northern Virginia Community College; Laszlo Bock, Senior VP, People Operations, Google

From left to right: Steve Clemons, Editor in Chief, AtlanticLIVE; Byron Auguste, Director, Social Sector Office, McKinsey & Company; Mike Morris, Chair and CEO, American Electric Power Company, Inc.; Jeff Joerres, Chair, CEO and Presiden,t ManpowerGroup (SIC); Nick Pinchuk, Chair and CEO, Snap-on Incorporated; Frits van Paasschen, President and Chief Executive Officer, STARWOOD HOTELS & RESORTS WORLDWIDE INC.

From left to right: Amanda Ripley, Contributor, The Atlantic; Emily DeRocco, President, The Manufacturing Institute; John Sexton, President, New York University; Bob Courteau, President, SAP North America; Bob Templin, President, Northern Virginia Community College; Laszlo Bock, Senior VP, People Operations, Google

From left to right: Steve Clemons, Editor in Chief, AtlanticLIVE; Byron Auguste, Director, Social Sector Office, McKinsey & Company; Mike Morris, Chair and CEO, American Electric Power Company, Inc.; Jeff Joerres, Chair, CEO and Presiden,t ManpowerGroup (SIC); Nick Pinchuk, Chair and CEO, Snap-on Incorporated; Frits van Paasschen, President and Chief Executive Officer, STARWOOD HOTELS & RESORTS WORLDWIDE INC.

Nick Pinchuk, Chair and CEO, Snap-on Incorporated

From left to right: Neil Kerwin, President, American University; Mike Morris, Chairman and CEO, American Electric Power Company

Late last month Senator Kay Hagan introduced the AMERICA Works Act in the Senate. The bill was also introduced in the House back in early April by Rep. Donnelly (D-IN), Platts (R-PA), and Boren (D-OK). Manufacturers have a long record of supporting this legislation, which is a realistic approach to education and workforce training. The legislation simply directs existing public funds towards training in industry-recognized, national portable credentials.

Recently, President Obama highlighted the NAM endorsed Skills Certification system in an effort to credential 500,000 students in the next five years. This legislation would play a pivotal role in fostering this effort.

Many manufacturers are still finding it difficult to find skilled workers to fill job vacancies. The AMERICA Works Act will help provide educational and career opportunities for workers and help increase productivity, innovation and help improve manufacturers’ competitiveness. 

We will continue to urge the House and Senate to pass the AMERICA Works Act, a vital piece of legislation to aid in our economic recovery.

Christine Scullion is director of human resources policy, National Association of Manufacturers.

President Obama hosted a Twitter Town Hall yesterday to field questions from the tweeting public. (Here’s the transcript.)

In response to a question from “David,” the President touched on a number of issues that are important to manufacturers, like research and development incentives and the need for a strong manufacturing workforce.  The President, of course, recently endorsed the Manufacturing Institute’s Skills Certification System, and manufacturers continue to push for a strengthened and permanent R  & D tax credit.

Here’s the exchange:

MR. DORSEY:  Mr. President, 27 percent of our questions are in the jobs category, as you can see from the screen over here.  Our next question has to do about jobs and technology.  It comes from David:  “Tech and knowledge industries are thriving, yet jobs discussion always centers on manufacturing.  Why not be realistic about jobs?”

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, it’s not an either/or question; it’s a both/and question.  We have to be successful at the cutting-edge industries of the future like Twitter.  But we also have always been a country that makes stuff.  And manufacturing jobs end up having both higher wages typically, and they also have bigger multiplier effects.  So one manufacturing job can support a range of other jobs — suppliers and the restaurant near the plant and so forth.  So they end up having a substantial impact on the overall economy.

What we want to focus on is advanced manufacturing that combines new technology, so research and development to figure out how are we going to create the next Twitter, how are we going to create the next Google, how are we going to create the next big thing — but make sure that production is here.

So it’s great that we have an Apple that’s creating iPods, iPads and designing them and creating the software, but it would be nice if we’re also making the iPads and the iPods here in the United States, because that’s some more jobs that people can work at.

And there are going to be a series of decisions that we’ve got to make.  Number one, are we investing in research and development in order to emphasize technology?  And a lot of that has to come from government.  That’s how the Internet got formed. That’s how GPS got formed.  Companies on their own can’t always finance the basic research because they can’t be assured that they’re going to get a return on it.

Number two, we’ve got to drastically improve how we train our workforce and our kids around math and science and technology.

Number three, we’ve got to have a top-notch infrastructure to support advanced manufacturing, and we’ve got to look at sectors where we know this is going to be the future.  Something like clean energy, for example.  For us not to be the leaders in investing in clean energy manufacturing so that wind turbines and solar panels are not only designed here in the United States but made here in the United States makes absolutely no sense.  We’ve got to invest in those areas for us to be successful.

So you can combine high-tech with manufacturing, and then you get the best of all worlds.

This morning President Obama announced the formation of the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership which is an effort to bring together universities, industry and the federal government to help invest in new technologies to advance manufacturing jobs. The goal of the program is to boost our nation’s competitiveness in the global marketplace.

Dow Chemical Chairman and CEO Andrew Liveris will Co-Chair the partnership along with Susan Hockfield, president of MIT. Mr. Liveris has been a strong advocate for manufacturing in the United States and brings to the table valuable experience from a successful career in manufacturing.

From the White House press release:

“Today, I’m calling for all of us to come together- private sector industry, universities, and the government- to spark a renaissance in American manufacturing and help our manufacturers develop the cutting-edge tools they need to compete with anyone in the world,” said President Obama. “With these key investments, we can ensure that the United States remains a nation that ‘invents it here and manufactures it here’ and creates high-quality, good paying jobs for American workers.”

I had the opportunity to be with President Obama today at an event at the Northern Virginia Community College where he announced a new initiative and key steps toward building an educated and skilled workforce in manufacturing.  The President particularly highlighted The Manufacturing Institute’s NAM-endorsed Skills Certification System as a national solution.  There were several NAM board members in attendance with me and it was a great event.

I did take the opportunity to talk briefly with the President and I not only thanked him for the event but also told him we needed to work together on the regulatory review process.  I expressed my concerns over many of the regulations coming out of EPA and their impact on manufacturing. The President noted that the administration wants to ensure that benefits outweigh the cost of regulations.  Our hope at the NAM is that we will see concrete action to curtail the over regulation from many agencies, especially the EPA.  It truly was a great day for manufacturing and I very much appreciate the President’s priority to this issue.

News coverage of the event:

New York Times: “Obama Talks Up Job Training”
Chronicle of Higher Education: “Obama to Unveil New Credentialing System During Visit to Community College”
Industry Week: “Industry Applauds National Attention on Manufacturing Workforce Development”
The Hill: “White House, industry expand programs to educate, train workers”
Bloomberg: “Obama Says Community College Training Can Help Fill Jobs Gap”
UPI: “Obama launches job-training partnership”

This morning at 11:30 President Obama will speak an event at Northern Virginia Community College in Alexandria to announce an industry led initiative to improve partnerships with community colleges to help develop a better skilled workforce for today’s manufacturing jobs. The President will highlight the Manufacturing Institute’s NAM-Endorsed Skills Certification System as a solution to meeting the goal of credentialing 500,000 community college students in the next five years.

The event will be streamed live online at nam.org.

Read the statement from NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons and from Manufacturing Institute President Emily DeRocco.

The Washington Times today completed a two-part series on Pennsylvania’s economic boom from development the Marcellus Shale natural gas, made possible through the technology of hydrofracturing and horizontal drilling.

The first day’s story, “Shale motherlode brings world of change,” reports on wide variety of economic effects and benefits, including the growing emphasis on workforce training to meet the energy sector’s demand for skilled employees.

A sidebar examines the small, ideologically committed opposition to domestic energy development, “‘Don’t frack with our water,’ say foes.”

Energy companies are doing big business, obviously, but the activity spreads throughout the economy, creating jobs and opportunity and allowing people to support their families. From Day Two’s entry, “Locals cash in on natural gas boom in Pa.“:

Other businesses also are seeing huge paydays. Rig workers for drilling companies such as Range Resources, one of the biggest players in the game, end up at local bars and restaurants after their shifts.

But they also must eat on the job. The hectic schedule doesn’t allow them to clean up and take a formal one-hour lunch break. Instead, the food comes to them.

“It’s the best thing that ever happened to me,” said Frank Puskarich, owner of Hog Father’s restaurant in Washington and daily caterer to Range Resources‘ “frack jobs” across the region. The boisterous barbecue pit master said he has hired eight employees who do nothing but prepare chicken, ribs, brisket, macaroni and cheese and other entrees for tired, hungry workers. He picked up the contract with Fort Worth, Texas-based Range Resources five years ago, and that also has helped drive business to his small establishment in Washington.

“It’s standing-room only for lunch” every day, Mr. Puskarich said. “[Business] has been tremendous. There’s a lot of work for people who want it, and not just in the food business.”

It’s a well-reported series.

Via Twitter, we find Rep. Steny Hoyer’s Facebook post announcing his intention to introduce new “Make It In America” legislation.

Here’s that link to the background on his bill. It appears to be more focused on jobs training than last session’s catch-all package of “Make it in America” legislation.

From The Oregonian, “Intel snaps up PCC Rock Creek grads as it feeds record chip demand“:

Intel, feeding record demand for its computer chips, has hired nearly all of the 15 graduates from this June’s class in Portland Community College’s microelectronics program and is looking for more skilled graduates.

The company is enjoying banner sales and is building a new, $3 billion research factory called D1X in Hillsboro. That facility — known as a fab in the chip industry — will employ 1,000 when it opens in 2013.

Intel has 15,000 Oregon workers — more than any other business. And the California-based company plans to add more than 4,000 U.S. jobs this year alone.

Coverage …

• Bizjournals.com, “Intel looks outside Oregon for workers
• Portland Tribune, “Intel warns business alliance: state must value education
• OregonBusiness.com, “On the Scene: Intel exec calls for ed investment”

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) has chaired a series of hearings by the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee to pummel for-profit, private colleges as exploiters of students and the working class. The hearings reinforce the Obama Administration’s regulatory “crack down” on the institutions, which attempts to deny their students access to federal financial aid.

One of the primary documents used to justify these attacks was a report delivered last August to the Senate HELP Committee from the Government Accounting Agency. As Mark Hyman chronicles at The Washington Examiner, the report, which lambasted the colleges’ financial aid practices, proved to so flawed — a “fraud” — that the GAO withdrew it and quietly reissued a new report. Still, the continuing attacks and Obama Administration’s regulations caused the educational companies’ stocks to drop. And now we learn of serious allegations of insider trading at the Department of Education.

As Hyman calls it, it’s “the biggest GAO scandal you never heard about.” (See also Heritage’s Tina Korbe, “Government made major revisions to for-profit colleges report, didn’t tell public.”)

Alarms have been raised about recruiters making misleading pitches and students surprised by the debt they assumed. OK, let’s apply regulation, oversight, enforcement and a renewed sense of caveat emptor to put a stop to the practices.

But we also know that for-profit colleges provide a valuable educational resource for many students, especially adults looking for new career paths or training not immediately available elsewhere. These schools adapt to the needs of the students. Yet these  businesses offering a service to willing buyers are being demonized in the political sphere. (continue reading…)