This is an original article the NIST Manufacturing Innovation blog, written by Dileet Thatte.

According to information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), every year 48 million people in the U.S. get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die from foodborne diseases. That means 1 in 6 people in the U.S. get sick from contaminated food every 12 months. These statistics are important to take note of and address since the U.S. food supply also represents a huge economic asset, contributing almost $1 trillion to the national gross domestic product (GDP) each year.

This is an original article written by Elliot Forsyth, Vice President of Business Operations at the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center (The Center), part of the MEP National Network.

When I was leading Organizational Development strategies at my former company, we used to call it the “getting hit by a bus” scenario. Then someone decided that was too morbid so it was rephrased to the “winning the lottery” scenario. In either case, we used the scenario to help the C suite and other senior leaders to think through who would replace their most critical employees if they no longer worked at the company. If your best and brightest employee won the lottery one evening and didn’t show up for work the next day, how would operations continue with minimal disruption to employees, customers, and stakeholders?

Who is LMI Chicago?

LMI Chicago is part of a worldwide organization called Leadership Management International. For over 50 years, in 80 countries and 27 languages, LMI programs have helped develop effective and productive leaders.  Jeff Johnson, President of LMI Chicago, personally completed the LMI programs with his management team (at his previous company) prior to starting LMIChicago four years ago. Witnessing the benefits, Johnson was attracted to the proven programs and processes and the difference they made in people’s lives.

Originally written by Calumet Area Industrial Commission.

In January of 2017, Calumet Area Industrial Commission (CAIC) accepted the call to action from IMEC and the Illinois Department of Labor to administer America's Promise Grant (APG) to underemployed and low-income individuals, plus recent high school grads. Since then, APG has helped further CAIC’s mission in leading industrial expansion and retention in Chicagoland and Northwestern Indiana.

As the country celebrates MFG Day 2019, and Illinois celebrates Manufacturing Month, it would be remiss of us to ignore this opportunity to acknowledge the impact of IMEC and the MEP National Network on our state and the country as a whole.  Being a part of the Network, IMEC has access to a plethora of local and national resources designed to strengthen an organization’s competitiveness and position them on a path to excellence. As a result of leveraging partnerships and our team’s expertise, IMEC has been able to make a significant impact on clients and the economy as a whole. In 2018 alone, we assisted 763 Illinois companies, created 6,793 jobs, and contributed aggregate impact to the state’s economy was $620,444,392.

A couple of weeks ago, over 500 MEP center staff, partners, stakeholders, industry thought leaders, and NIST MEP staff gathered in Atlanta for the 2019 MEP National Summit. With the theme The United State of Manufacturing, this year’s summit intended to “lay the foundation for service and solutions that will grow the Network, improve the ways we serve small and medium-sized manufacturers, and strengthen and empower U.S. Manufacturers as we advance U.S. Manufacturing.” 

Facing the reality that the current workforce is dwindling down due to the silver tsunami sweeping the industry, manufacturers have a hard time finding quality replacement. The silver tsunami refers to the large number of baby boomers who are retiring from the workforce. For manufacturers, this is the majority of workers – they are not only losing employees, but also years of acquired knowledge and skills. It is time have to get creative about finding and developing talent while riding the tsunami wave. The problem is the disconnect between the industry and the general public. Unfortunately, the next generation of workers has misconceptions about manufacturing and trade jobs.