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Good year in 2007 topped by R&D, workforce investments

Published: January 25, 2008
David Marks
Chair Manufacturing 21 Coalition
CEO, Marks Metals Technology

The news is good. The Manufacturing 21 Coalition had a successful 2007 and has a clear path for 2008.

This was the message to the coalition’s Board, Managers’ Team and CEO Advisory Council on January 10, 2008, where 50 people met at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.

The coalition has built influence with opinion leaders and confident partnerships with education and training institutions. We’ve stayed on course and on task – never straying from the course set and expected by our investors.

A great example of the Coalition’s successful advocacy comes in the form of breaking news from Portland State University (PSU). The university has agreed to create an interdisciplinary materials institute to stabilize PSU’s core materials science program. This will expand PSU’s capacity to serve the needs of our industry. I can’t emphasize enough the long-term importance of this commitment by PSU.

Another great stride last year is MFG 21’s partnership with Worksystems Inc. (WSI), the workforce board in Multnomah and Washington counties. The partnership allows manufacturing companies to direct the expenditure of up to $1.8 million for training programs.

Summary of 2007 gains

Manufacturing 21 Coalition’s mission is to build a strong and able workforce, and to increase the region’s capacity to serve the innovation needs of the manufacturing sector.

In addition to the PSU and WSI developments, the Coalition laid the building blocks necessary to create a manufacturing center. None of the resources listed below are used to support MFG 21 – they are our return on investment from the funds committed to MFG 21 by our supporters. Accomplishments include:

•    Legislative committee formed: MFG 21 helped create a Workforce Committee during the 2007 legislative session. We then educated the members of the committee about the workforce challenges facing our industry.

•    Oregon InC endorsement: MFG 21 won the endorsement of Oregon’s Innovation Council. This produced $2.8 million for new faculty and equipment at PSU. MFG 21 members now are serving on the PSU committee to hire two new tenure track faculty members. New industrial-scale test and measurement equipment will be installed at PSU by April 2008.

•    DoD funded local projects: MFG 21 won another $1 million from the U.S. Department of Defense. This brings our total federal portfolio to $3.5 million. We will use the funds to invest in research and workforce programs. The Coalition also will work with our partner, the Pacific Northwest Defense Coalition, to support an expansion of their business support programs.

•    MHCC materials program transformed: MFG 21 helped Mt. Hood Community College transform its metals program into a new integrated metals program. Enrollment has soared and we helped the college find additional faculty with industry experience to teach the overflowing classes.

•    Manufacturing Road Trip supported: MFG 21 helped Clackamas Community College launch its second Manufacturing Road Trip, which brings high school teachers and counselors into our companies. This year, Portland Community College and Mt. Hood will launch similar programs, expanding the effort across the metro area.

•    New PCC welding center: MFG 21 advocacy helped secure a place in a proposed bond measure for a new welding technology center at Portland Community College. If it passes, we will have a state-of-the-art welding training center located on PCC’s Southeast Campus – accessible to students from Mt. Hood and Clackamas Community Colleges.

2007 brought organizational change and stability

The Coalition does not have paid staff and we keep overhead to a minimum. We contract with the public affairs firm of Conkling Fiskum & McCormick to provide turnkey management and advocacy services. CFM partner Norm Eder serves as our Executive Director. Norm and his CFM colleagues keep us on track toward our goals. Most importantly, CFM’s experience and counsel provides us with effective, results-oriented thought leadership.

•    Legal incorporation: MFG 21 was asked by its investors to formalize its legal structure in 2006. We did so by establishing a 501(c)6 organization. A founding board was created and the Stoel Rives law firm assisted us to file necessary forms to give us legal standing. We also created a 501(c)3 foundation to advance our long-term vision of a manufacturing center.

•    Web site launched: MFG 21 built and launched its Web site, http://www.manufacturing21.com

•    PDC series supported: MFG 21 continued to host a breakfast series with Portland Development Commission. These serve as investor meetings and bring important speakers to our community.

2008 will be another year of focused accomplishment

The Coalition will remain focused on its two core business activities – workforce and innovation. In addition to managing our investment portfolios in 2008, we are looking to the future.

•    More state funding: MFG 21 has been working since last fall on a second round investment proposal to the Oregon Innovation Council. We have a strong committee of technical experts, led by Silver Eagle Manufacturing CEO, Gary Gaussoin, and Boeing’s Matt Carter, who already have created the outline of our proposal. We will work with the Innovation Council to place our proposal before the 2009 legislature. In addition to investments in PSU, our new proposal may include coordinated proposed investments in Oregon Institute of Technology and University of Oregon.

•    State workforce policy: MFG 21 created a team to develop a new framework for state workforce policy and programs. This was unveiled at our January 10 meeting to very strong support for our draft concepts. We intend to discuss our proposal with business and labor during the coming months. Our goal is to explore the potential of a business and labor-led plan to take to the 2009 legislature.

Please accept my gratitude for your continued interest in MFG 21 Coalition. We’ve had a lot of success and our prospects for more are bright.

Support the career Expo

MFG 21 continued its sponsorship of the Northwest Careers Expo. Our companies remain the single largest source of financial support for the program that drew 4,500 high school students, teachers and counselors to the Oregon Convention Center last year. The 2008 Expo will be on May 8th. Please participate.

Series on Midwest manufacturing revival indirectly told the Oregon story, too

The video spotlight may have been exclusively on manufacturing in Wisconsin last November, but The News Hour (PBS) series on globalization did a great job describing what also is happening in Oregon and Southwest Washington.

“While the stories focused on the Midwest, they could as easily have been about our region,” says Norm Eder, Executive Director of the Manufacturing 21 Coalition.

The News Hour’s Paul Solman noted: “In the past year, manufacturing has held its own in Wisconsin and added more to the state's economy than health care, retail and high-tech combined.”

Here are links to the two-part series:

Part One

Part Two