business backgrounder | education & workforce
Building a Skilled Workforce
Manufacturers and school districts work together to give students a pathway to success.
Gordon Oliver
In Clark County, manufacturers and school districts are taking the long view as they work to give young people the skills they need to succeed in the modern workforce.
At A Glance
In Southwest Washington, manufacturers and school districts are working together to address worker shortages by introducing students to manufacturing.
The partnership helps students by giving them high school and college credit and it helps employers by helping them attract potential workers.
“ I had never thought of it for myself, but I’ m definitely thinking about it now.”
Emily Lovato was in familiar territory when she showed up June 15 for her first day of work at Columbia Machine,— Emily Lovato, 18 a Vancouver manufacturer of machinery used to create concrete products. She’ d been there this spring as a high school intern, learning about manufacturing and realizing that this work could possibly be for her.
Lovato, 18, was one of seven students from the Evergreen School District’ s Legacy High School who’ d completed an internship at Columbia Machine under a program gaining traction across Clark County. Now she had returned, flush with excitement, for a summer job and her first paycheck. She doesn’ t have work plans beyond summer but says,“ I would like to have a job like this.”
As industry struggles statewide with worker shortages in a booming economy, manufacturers and school districts in Clark County are taking a long view on how to build a skilled workforce. Working with the Southwest Washington STEM Learning Network and Clark College, they’ ve developed a program that introduces students like Lovato to manufacturing, while helping them gain soft skills to succeed in any workplace.
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