Funding Awarded: $51,267

INDUSTRY PARTNERS:

Tri-State Manufacturers Association, BTD Manufacturing, StoneL Corp, 3M

Key Partners:

Alexandria Technical College, Lakes Country Service Co-op, MN State Community & Technical College, Rural Minnesota Concentrated Employment Program (Rural MN CEP), 360 Manufacturing and Applied Engineering Center of Excellence (MnSCU), West Central Initiative

Project Summary:

In 11 counties in west central Minnesota, job seekers and students have access to a manufacturing career exploration and awareness program called Dream It! Do it! The goal is to increase awareness of 16-26 year-olds in advanced manufacturing needed to support renewable energy businesses. BTD Manufacturing, StoneL, the Tri State Manufacturers' Association, and 3M are industry partners along with the region's university and community and technical college.

Project Outcomes:

• 29 educators trained in advanced manufacturing careers related to renewable energy

• 1180 additional students expected to be trained annually by educators trained

• 30 Manufacturing Technology Toolkits provided to schools throughout the region

• 600 additional students expected to be impacted annually through use of the Toolkits

• 30 youth introduced to/participated in renewable energy projects/activities

Project Description:

The future looks promising and quite interesting for careers in manufacturing. That's the message carried by the Dream It! Do It! Campaign in west central Minnesota. It targets 16-26 year olds, their parents, teachers, and guidance counselors with the goal of changing their perception of modern manufacturing.

"Typically, people think of manufacturing jobs as greasy and dirty, but there are a lot of great technological jobs in manufacturing where you need programming skills or other skills for doing circuit boards," said Mike Westergard, Production Director of StoneL, a Fergus Falls-based plant that manufactures valve and pump components. "They are clean jobs in a nice work environment and it's a really good place to work."

The Dream It! Do It! project is a multi-media campaign involving in-school visits by manufacturing professionals; career fairs and workshops for guidance counselors and STEM teachers; posters & brochures describing youth-oriented manufacturing careers; and a comprehensive website. They use social media tools such as Facebook to attract teen attention and raise awareness about opportunities.

The website is packed with career tools that help youth explore manufacturing jobs, renewable energy professions, and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) careers. A Career Calculator helps connect interests with potential jobs ranging from designing guitars & motorcycles to working in biochemistry.

According to Westergard, "Historically, high school guidance counselors have tended to steer people towards a four-year degree, but what Dream It! Do It! does is show that you can spend two years at a technical school, learn some very valuable skills, get out into the workforce quicker, and still have a very good career that pays well. And, you can stay in your own community."