Regional manufacturing sector is building momentum

Manufacturing is alive and well in Spokane, and getting weller. The county’s 500-plus manufacturing companies have added 1,000 jobs since last May, and they continue to hire.

In a February report to the Workforce Development Council, Washington labor economist Jeff Zahir noted industry could not fill all the openings for machinists and assemblers. And it’s not as if the wages are unattractive.

Pay during the third quarter of 2005 averaged $42,173 a year, and two-thirds of the jobs come with paid medical and other benefits. Among the sectors tracked by the Employment Security Department, only jobs in finance, information processing and corporate management pay more.

Women, not surprisingly, represent only one-quarter of the manufacturing work force.

As the demand for machinists and assemblers indicates, many companies face a challenge getting the qualified workers they need. The problem will be among those on the table at a Thursday manufacturing town hall meeting at the Skills Center, one of the education facilities trying to help meet demand for workers.

Haskins Steel Co., Inc., Vice President Craig Dias will moderate a panel on work force development. Haskins distributes steel and aluminum, and can bend and cut metal plate up to six inches thick.

Metals fabrication, with 2,000 workers, is Spokane County’s largest manufacturing sector. Haskins employs 80, of whom 11 were hired within the last eight months. But Dias says Haskins is turning away job applicants because they do not have the math skills needed for precision manufacturing.

His complaint was repeated by other industry employers in a Spokane Regional Chamber of Commerce Skills Panel report issued last October. Almost 90 percent of employers surveyed said they found it difficult to find “employable” people. All said schools should impart some “real world” math, science and communication skills to ready students for the workplace.

The survey and report are part of the Chamber’s two-year advanced manufacturing initiative funded with $110,000 in state money. Thursday’s meeting will be the third organized to help guide future training efforts.

Dias says part of the problem is a K-12 education system that has been too focused on preparing students for college, to the detriment of the many who do not plan to continue their education. The single-minded focus on the WASL test exacerbated the problem. Too often, he says, employers with other demands on their time and money have been forced to solve the problem themselves.

High turnover among young workers only adds to the frustration. Those less than 25 years old are three times as likely to leave a manufacturing job than those older than 25.

But Dias says area school districts are coming around. He is on a panel discussing math instruction in the third and fourth grades. Participants hope to reach students before they have fallen too far behind by middle and high school.

Dias also says a newly launched Spokane Community College program, Integrated Basic Education & Special Training, could fast-track qualified students into industry. IBEST teaches applied math, blueprint reading and basic electrical skills the first quarter, then splits students into second-quarter instruction in ether welding, fluid-power, or machining. Language instruction for immigrants is also a component of the training.

After the two terms, the students are ready for a job, or more advanced technical instruction.

SCC Dean Mike Miressays 16 of 20 students out of this spring’s pilot group will progress to the second quarter. Classes were held in the late afternoon to accommodate those who already have jobs. A few, he noted, had the technical but not the language skills.

Dias says local manufacturers hope to build student enthusiasm by possibly tapping into a “Dream It, Do It” program developed by the National Association of Manufacturers. The Web-based campaign allows students to explore their interests, and find the training and jobs that will help them achieve their goals.

Manufacturing is no longer about the repetitive mass production their parents knew, he says. “You may be wearing overalls, but you’re using your hands and you’re using your brain at the same time.”