ABACUS AUTOMATION - DIXIE ZENS
ARLINGTON INDUSTRIES - PHILLIP WEBB
BIJUR LUBRICATING - CARL GOODWIN, ANNE THOMAYER, ROGER YAMAMOTO
CHEMFAB CORP. - TRISH FIELDS
J.K. ADAMS -MALCOLM COOPER, JR.
K&H PRODUCTS, LTD. - ROBERT HOWE, PAUL MIOTTKE
MCADOO RUGS - PRESTON MCADOO
NORTHERN LIGHTS CABLE - WAYNE KACHMAR
STANLEY TOOLS - MAUREEN CLOUTIER
TANSITOR ELECTRONICS - DAN MALMBOURG, PAT PUTIS
US TSUBAKI, INC. - RAYALDA FRANCE, GARY SPENCER
VERMONT COMPOSITES - DANIEL MANEELY

Manufacturing

Overview

You ask what manufacturers would thrive best in Vermont. I am persuaded the
difficulty would be to point out the manufacturers that would not flourish in it.
-Ethan Allen, 1776

Manufacturing has historically been a driving force in the Bennington County economy. Bennington County's proximity to Albany, Boston and New York City, combined with the safety and beauty of rural Vermont, has made it an especially inviting site for manufacturers. As a result, Bennington County has a higher percentage of its workers employed in manufacturing than is typical in the rest of Vermont. 1 This fact is a two-sided coin, holding both the promise of desirable jobs and a ready workforce as well as the threat of job loss and economic decline. Although Bennington County has experienced since 1980 the same decline in manufacturing jobs as has occurred across the entire nation, this trend appears to have been recently broken in our region - the most current data available show a growth in the number of local manufacturing jobs from 1997 to 1998, 2 and many manufacturers suggest that upward swing has continued at least modestly since 1998.

Among the local companies thriving is Mack Molding, part of a group of companies that saw sales rise 50% from 1996 to 1997. The company recently expanded its operation in Bennington County - where it manufactures, among other things, molded plastic cases for computer components - to nearly 350 employees. Abacus Automation, a manufacturer of custom automation equipment, has expanded into a new plant in Bennington and increased its workforce to nearly 40 with a near-term target of 50, mostly high-skilled technical positions. Chemfab, which produces a chemical fabric used in such high performance applications as the space shuttle, has undertaken a retooling that will support increased production at its North Bennington plant. Northern Lights Cable in Bennington forecasts the need for up to 40 additional employees within five years to meet the demand for its fiber optics cable product line.

On the whole, manufacturing jobs are among the best paying jobs in the county, and wages of local manufacturing employees compare very favorably with similar positions statewide. In 1998, the average salary of workers in local manufacturing jobs was nearly 40% higher than the county average for all employment sectors 3 and is on a steady increase. 4 In recent years wage gains in manufacturing positions have outpaced average wage growth in Vermont and, significantly, have grown at a faster than average pace than for the nation. 5 Within Vermont, Bennington County manufacturing wages are the third highest of all Vermont counties at an average of $32, 945, exceeded only by Chittenden and Addison counties. 6 Clearly, the more manufacturing jobs can be retained and grown locally, the more Bennington County workers can have opportunity for above average incomes.

Current Workforce
In Bennington County, close to 4,000 people are employed in some capacity within a manufacturing company. 7 Outside of general business roles (such as office staff, accounting, sales), the majority of positions are related to the production of the company's product and span assembly work to high-level engineering.

With some exceptions, manufacturers say they are currently able to hire a sufficient number of assembly and basic production-level workers, although more and more often they must extend their search to draw workers from a wider geographic area. Despite the fact there may be an adequate supply of potential workers, however, there is virtually unanimous concern that applicants are often lacking in key "soft skills" (attendance, good work ethic, reliability, self-motivation, willingness to learn, effective communication) and academic fundamentals that are necessary for productive workers. Because of this, manufacturers often must interview extensively for each position to be filled. Dan Maneely, of Vermont Composites, says his company is willing to search through many applications to find the right person when it recruits production workers. They need "people who want to work, who have a proven track record, and who are able to pass a drug test," Maneely says. Across the board, manufacturers report that new hires' basic math competency skills - ability to work with fractions and decimals, positive and negative numbers, graphs, measuring tools and measurements - are common deficiencies that inhibit a worker's performance and often must be remediated from within the company if a worker is to be retained.

As opposed to the overall availability of basic production workers, virtually every company says attracting and keeping engineering staff and computer professionals is a serious challenge. Skills especially in demand include CAD drafting, mechanical and electrical systems design, and database programming. According to Alison Ryan, Manager at D.E.T.'s Bennington Career Resource Center, engineering job openings listed in their job inventory remain unfilled longer than any other job category. Even when companies succeed in attracting engineers, they often lose them to out-of-the-area manufacturers. Carl Goodwin, President of Bijur Lubricating, reports that the company had recently recruited and trained several graduates of top engineering schools, only to have them leave our region after a short tenure at Bijur. Factors behind this recruiting and retention challenge range from the strong national competition for engineers and programmers - often at wage levels it is hard for Vermont companies to match - to young college grads' reactions to the lifestyle and social scene of the rural Vermont culture.

One solution companies are pursuing is to recruit employees from the local area who will fit in well with the existing workforce, and who can be trained in-house or locally. At Arlington Industries, a manufacturer of plastic components for the medical supply and aircraft industries, President Phil Webb says he does not feel the urgent recruitment needs facing some other firms because they predominantly
recruit locally and then rely on a policy of employee development to fill skill needs. "People learn best by doing," says Webb, "and we consider on-the-job training routine."

Local graduates from the Career Development Center's manufacturing skills and pre-engineering programs are filling some of the employee needs and skill gaps. According to Dixie Zens of Abacus Automation, which relies on such students, "motivated secondary students can be effectively 'grown' into most technical positions." Also, the Learning Institute is able to provide short-term, skill-focused training for local employees in an array of manufacturing and engineering skills, such as software use and CAD drafting.

There is a growing trend for manufacturers to increasingly tie wages to skill level rather than time on the job. Chemfab is one employer already started on this policy and U.S. Tsubaki (UST), a manufacturer of sprockets located in Bennington, is planning to adopt it. At UST, worldwide competition in the marketplace allows customers to be increasingly reluctant to accept price hikes, say Rayalda France, Personnel Manager and Gary Spencer, Plant Manager. This forces UST to offset employee wage growth by improving production efficiency, which creates a greater demand locally for workers with advanced technology skills, while labor-intensive jobs are exported to third world countries. UST takes advantage of the opportunities available to train its workers locally at Community College of Vermont, Southern Vermont College, the Learning Institute, Bennington College and the Career Development Center. They also utilize in-house training programs, consultants, equipment vendors, the World Wide Web and video programs.

Other companies use "employee-friendly" work policies to attract and retain workers. At K&H Products, a North Bennington designer and manufacturer of heavy-duty sewn-fabric products, company officials proudly report never imposing a worker layoff in 28 years of production. Bob Howe, owner, and Paul Miottke, production manager, attribute their success in large part to promoting a family atmosphere, and to a company policy that rewards hard work and ingenuity with cash incentives. They seek the trust of their employees, they said, and encourage mutual goals. One K&H incentive program pays experienced staff to mentor new workers in a trainer/trainee collaboration. The program rewards employees for encouraging the success of their co-workers, while providing needed in-house training.

Future Workforce
Intense worldwide competition has contributed to the decline in American manufacturing jobs. For this sector to maintain its economic importance in Bennington County, it is essential that the skills and talents of the local workforce be strengthened and upgraded. Several local manufacturers
that have withstood the downward job trend attribute their success largely to the skills of their employees combined with innovative product design and production. "The decision to create more work here, or in Indonesia, Mexico, or anywhere else, is going to be directly impacted by the productivity
of the available workforce," says Wayne Kachmar of Northern Lights Cable. He defines productivity as technical skills and learning ability.

Among the skills most often cited as prime skills for the future manufacturing workforce are: mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, CAD drafting, systems design, and computer programming. Career Development Center programs and courses, along with some post-secondary
offerings at local colleges, can address fundamental skill levels in some of these areas, but the region has no truly advanced technical school that can meet more advanced skill and specialized training needs. Employers generally recognize the reality of providing in-house training and development for
some of these advanced skills, but express the hope that additional training opportunities can be developed locally. Specifically, several employers call for a local associate degree level program in engineering ("engineering tech") that could produce locally-tied, upgradable, entry-level engineers. The innovative Learning Institute, which has specialized in manufacturing industry training of various sorts, is one forward-looking local solution for accessible industry-specific training for more advanced skills, but to date has experienced under-utilization by area firms.

For some companies, replacing current skills in jeopardy of being lost through the "graying" of the workforce is another area of concern for the future. For instance, in traditional tool-and-die making, employers are concerned that there is no new generation coming up to replace those who retire.

Further, significant future gains in manufacturing jobs and wages will also depend largely upon increasing the availability locally of skilled employees. Between 60 and 100 new manufacturing jobs per year are targeted to be created in Bennington County, according to a study by POLICOM.
8 The challenges here include promoting awareness of manufacturing career opportunities to a general student and entry-level worker population who are not typically aware of the career and wage opportunities in the field.

"We need to create a human 'infrastructure' which provides the diversity of skills employers are seeking," says Lance Matteson, Director of Bennington County Industrial Corp. This means making maximum use of current local education and training resources, developing new training programs
to fill unmet needs, and devising strategies to interest young professionals in living and working in Bennington County.

As one example of a progressive model for increasing worker skills and maximizing resources, several area manufacturers have begun to collaborate to fill a shared skill need. Vermont Composites, Abacus Automation and other companies jointly purchased an expensive specialized CAD software
program and made it available to the Career Development Center, enabling the Career Development Center to affordably train the workers of many firms in specialized state-of-the-art manufacturing skills. This collaborative model offers promise of spreading the previously-prohibitive cost of training over several employers in a way that is affordable to all, and which results in effective locally-accessible training that can keep pace with advances in the field.

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Establish "engineering tech" program locally at the associate-degree level
• Increase articulation of specific training needs to education/training community (via roundtable dialogs, Business/Education Conference, targeted web site, other means)
• Ensure continual upgrade training is available locally in latest version of CAD and other computer software
• Expand the accessibility and use of the Learning Institute as a short-term, skill-focused training resource
• Form a local manufacturing career "council" to promote manufacturing careers and work with education/training community to develop effective education and training programs
• Implement an industry-wide outreach program targeted at middle school through college students, which: raises awareness of local manufacturing companies, promotes wage benefits and career opportunities in manufacturing; presents the need for strong math and science skills, and ties skill level to earning power
• Expand student work-based learning opportunities such as apprenticeships, internships, etc., in order to create direct career paths for students into local manufacturing careers
• In high school and college math classes, incorporate a greater focus upon industrial applications of math skills (measurement, fractions, ratios, etc.); provide opportunities for teachers to spend time at workplaces so they learn the modern skill applications first-hand and can carry examples back to their teaching
• Involve employers and manufacturing professionals in directly working with schools to develop students' "soft skills" (Ex: Geiger's school-to-work program; employer-led classroom lessons on teamwork, dependability, etc.)