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OBAMA 2.O / MIDDLE CLASS CHALLENGE
tute in Youngstown, Ohio, with
$30 million in federal funding, a
joint effort between industry and
schools to train workers for tomorrow’s manufacturing jobs. The
Youngstown facility focuses on
training workers for 3-D printing
technology, the kind of modern
manufacturing industry where observers see a lot of potential.
The facility is an acknowledgment that tomorrow’s manufacturing jobs will be different from
the ones of the past. Gone are
the days when a new high school
graduate could show up at the factory door, get trained on the shop
floor and earn a good wage and
a pension. Jobs like those in 3-D
printing require more advanced
training and a certain degree of
computer literacy. The same goes
for other areas where experts,
as well as the White House, see
promise, like industrial robotics
or nanomanufacturing. Obama’s
own tech advisers have warned
that the country’s “historic leadership” in manufacturing technology is “at risk” if it can’t cultivate
the right talent for these fields.
In his 2013 budget proposal,
Obama called for devoting $1
billion to create a national network of institutes like the one in
Youngstown — a recommendation
that hasn’t exactly become a prior-
HUFFINGTON
01.27.13
Job seekers
wait in line
at KennedyKing College
to attend a
job fair on
Nov. 9, 2012.