News from the Chicago Manufacturing Renaissance Council

January 2011 In This Issue Seizing our Generation's Sputnik Moment -- Together Fund up to 50% of Employee Training with an ETIP Grant Manufacturing is "the Shining Star of this Recovery" Good News at Austin Polytech Joan Fitzgerald: We Need a Manufacturing Agenda Upcoming Events ProMat 2011 Expo March 21-24 McCormick Place Learn more and register About Us The Chicago Manufacturing Renaissance Council is a partnership of the region's labor, business, government, education and community leaders working together to establish the Chicago area as a global leader in advanced, high value-added manufacturing. Manufacturing is the single most important sector of the Chicago area's economy. The industry has the largest positive 'ripple effect' on the rest of the economy: each manufacturing job creates three more in related sectors. The industry is directly and indirectly responsible for over 1.7 million jobs in Chicago. The Renaissance Council's flagship initiative is Austin Polytechnical Academy (APA), an advanced manufacturing-focused public high school on Chicago's west side that prepares students for leadership in all areas of the industry. APA students learn about careers in manufacturing by working with our committed partner companies, who provide students with industry exposure and financial support. Our partners contributed over $150,000 to create our new Manufacturing Technology Center, a state of the art on-campus machining facility where students can earn industry-recognized credentials from the National Institute for Metalworking Skills. Support Us Your support makes our success possible. We need your help to deliver the resources, networks, and programs to help develop a skilled workforce and keep us on the cutting edge of innovation. Please make your check payable to the Center for Labor & Community Research and mail it to us at 3411 West Diversey, Suite 10, Chicago, Illinois 60647. CLCR is the non-profit fiscal and operational sponsor of the Chicago Manufacturing Renaissance Council. You can also contribute online securely through PayPal by clicking below: Your donation is tax deductible. For more information on giving to the Renaissance Council, please contact executive director Dan Swinney at dswinney@clcr.org or 773-278-5418 ext. 13. Contact Us 3411 West Diversey, Suite 10 Chicago, Illinois 60647 P: 773-278-5418 F: 773-278-5918 chicagomanufacturing.org Join our Mailing List Seizing our Generation's Sputnik Moment -- Together by Dan Swinney Executive Director In this week's State of the Union address, President Obama highlighted many of the critical issues the Renaissance Council has been tackling for over five years. "The only way to move to full employment is to lay a new foundation for long-term economic growth," he said, proposing an aggressive agenda to create jobs and ensure the US can maintain its leadership in the face of growing competition in the global arena. Continue reading Fund up to 50% of Employee Training with an ETIP Grant The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity's (DCEO) Employer Training Investment Program (ETIP) supports Illinois workers' efforts to upgrade their skills and remain current in new technologies and business practices. Apply Now! Grant applications due February 25 ETIP grants may reimburse Illinois companies for up to 50 percent of the cost of training their employees. Grants may be awarded to individual businesses, intermediary organizations operating multi-company training projects, and original equipment manufacturers sponsoring multi-company training for their Illinois suppliers. Manufacturing is "the Shining Star of this Recovery" For the first time since 1997, the US manufacturing sector is creating more jobs than it eliminates. Government incentives, along with rising shipping costs, are encouraging manufacturers to invest more resources at home in the US. Over the last year, the number of jobs in manufacturing grew by 1.2%, or 136,000. The Wall Street Journal reports: "After a steep slump during the recession, manufacturing is 'the shining star of this recovery,' says Thomas Runiewicz, an economist at IHS. He expects total U.S. manufacturing jobs this year to rise to about 12 million. [...] 'Manufacturing is going to be a significant source of job growth over the next decade,' says Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics. He says U.S. manufacturers that survived the brutal 2008-09 recession are now very competitive, with much lower labor costs and debt burdens, and so can afford to expand." Good News at Austin Polytech As the Renaissance Council reported last month, Austin Polytechnical Academy has made great strides since first opening in 2007, but has also faced its fair share of challenges. This month, we're happy to report a number of success stories as we kick off the new year: This week, 50 APA students earned industry-recognized credentials from the National Institute for Metalworking Skills, bringing our total up to 73 NIMS-certified students so far. In December, a group of students manufactured over 120 aluminum whistles in the Manufacturing Technology Center as part of the APA Whistle Project led by machining instructor Pablo Varela. Over 400 prospective students have applied to Austin Polytech for the 2011-12 school year by selecting APA as a top 5 choice on the application. About 200 students selected APA as their first choice. We plan to admit no more than 100. APA has been invited to present at the Good Jobs, Green Jobs national conference in Washington because of our unique approach to developing social partnerships and youth leadership in manufacturing and the green economy. For more good news as it happens, sign up for Tech Talk, APA's monthly email newsletter. Joan Fitzgerald: We Need a Manufacturing Agenda Check out "We Need a Manufacturing Agenda" by Prof. Joan Fitzgerld, director of the Law, Policy and Society Program at Northeastern University. In this recent New York Times editorial, Joan discusses what it'll take for the US to stay competitive on green energy as China steps up their investment in renewable technologies. You may remember Joan from the Renaissance Council's forum last year, which featured a panel of government and business leaders and their reactions to Joan's book Emerald Cities. Check out this video of Joan explaining her vision for green development in the US. 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