Manufacturing in MN: Strong And Growing

By Laura French, Star Tribune Sales and Marketing

Last update: September 11, 2005 - 11:00 PM

Don't believe everything that you read: In spite of frequent reports on the decline of manufacturing in the United States, the demand for skilled manufacturing workers is running far ahead of the supply in Minnesota.

Pride, work ethic and a willingness to keep working are the primary requirements.

Shortage Of Skilled Workers

When the Minnesota Precision Manufacturing Association (MPMA) held its Grand View conference in April 2005, one of the major topics of discussion was the shortage of skilled workers. According to a report from the conference, "Work force shortages are a major concern for many manufacturers. The current work force is nearing retirement and few prospects fit the new job descriptions. Technical college students are swallowed up by other companies before they even graduate."

Manufacturing is still strong in Minnesota, according to the MPMA, an organization composed of 320 component manufacturers and their suppliers, which has been around for the past 44 years. As stated by the MPMA website, there are 400,000 manufacturing workers in Minnesota – one out of every five nonfarm workers. Precision manufacturing has grown by 38 percent since 1988, to a total of 64,000 workers. Average wages for Minnesota workers in precision manufacturing continue to rise.

Full Strength

Dale Greenwald, president of Cass Screw Machine Products, says every conversation he's involved in includes the question, "How's business?" Right now, Greenwald is able to report that his company is "back to full strength, plus." Although it faced some tough times two years ago, laying off 19 people, right now he says there are no experienced people coming in off the street to apply, as there were in the past.

Greenwald has been on the board of MPMA since 1974 and served as president in 1980. Back then, he says, he could say with "total confidence" to a young person he was interviewing, "If you like machining, you'll never be without a job, because we'll always need to make things." These days, with thousands of jobs being sent offshore, Greenwald is less sure about the long term. For right now, he says, his customers are loyal and satisfied, and he's working to keep them that way.

Today's Skill Set Is Greater

Chuck Arnold, executive director of MPMA, agrees that today's manufacturing world has changed. "In the past we simply needed to get individuals interested in pushing buttons and running computer-controlled machines. Today the skill set is much greater," Arnold says. "The jobs of yesterday went overseas. However, the high-skilled jobs are very much alive here in the United States. We need individuals who are willing to be continually trained to be proactive in innovation."

The MPMA has helped to found the Manufacturing Educators Coalition, which includes 17 technical colleges and universities in Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota. Its goal is to make students aware of, and prepared for, manufacturing careers. MPMA gets the interest started even earlier with programs like the BattleBots IQ, where high school teams build high-tech robots and send them into battle.

For more information on manufacturing in Minnesota, including a database of MPMA members, go to the association's website at www.mpma.com.

Laura French is principal of Words Into Action, Inc., and is a freelance writer from Roseville.

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