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Message from Jennifer Weot
Welcome to the 2023-24 school year!
Macomb County employers, are you ready to get involved? As fall approaches and the schools are back in session, there are many school district events looking for business participation. Remember, “Fueling the Talent Pipeline” is all about businesses getting involved with schools to expose and inspire students about various careers by offering meaningful career exploration activities. Let's get them excited about the interesting, great paying and rewarding opportunities available in your field! They exist right here, in their own backyards.
Two of the biggest fall events are listed in articles below: Manufacturing Day (MFG Day) and MiCareerQuest Southeast. Macomb County holds the largest MFG Day event in the entire nation! Thank you to the manufacturers that participate and sponsor this event. MiCareerQuest Southeast is the largest career exploration event of the year. Please take a look at the individual articles for more information.
Along with these events, I have school districts looking for business partners to participate in career fairs, advisory boards, career exploration days, job shadows, work-based learning (WBL) opportunities and more. Romeo High School is planning its fall “Career Day '' on October 18 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. If your business would like to participate, here is the sign-up sheet.
We need to reach the future workforce while they are still in school. They don’t know what they don’t know. Let’s show them what your career field has to offer! By the time they graduate, in most cases, it is too late. To get involved with the 21 school districts and 28 high schools in Macomb County, please go to https://business.macombgov.org/business-FuelingTalent.
I’m looking forward to connecting with you!
Jennifer Weot
Concerned about child care for your workforce? Your input is needed
Seeking to gain a better understanding of how child care impacts the region, Macomb County Planning and Economic Development (MCPED) is studying the issue with a goal of developing a set of recommendations that addresses concerns raised by families, employers and providers.
“We know that finding child care can be an incredible challenge for families,” said Vicky Rowinski, director, Macomb County Planning and Economic Development. “We also know that when care isn’t available, our workforce is impacted and this has a negative effect on employers. So our goal with this survey is to find out what the barriers to child care are and why they exist so we can work on a local level to remove them. It is therefore important that anyone dealing with these issues provide feedback so we can have an accurate picture of care in Macomb County.”
Funded by a grant provided through the Michigan Department of Education, MCPED formed the Macomb County Child Care Coalition in early summer to gain perspective from impacted stakeholders. Currently, the roster includes more than 60 individuals representing families, providers, employers, municipalities and other agencies.
The next step is to gain input through surveys designed for families, child care providers and employers. Each survey should take no more than ten minutes and individuals are encouraged to complete more than one, if appropriate, as a parent or guardian of a child, as the owner or manager of a child care program or as an employer whose workforce is impacted by child care issues.
Results of the surveys will be shared with the coalition who will work together to build a report that describes the current child care system and develop a set of recommendations that seeks to alleviate concerns identified by all stakeholders.
“This will be an ongoing effort,” said Rowinski. “The Coalition is made up of local parents, employers, child care providers and experts that have come together with a common goal of improving child care in our community. So we’ll use the survey data and other input to make care in Macomb County more accessible for all.”
Administered by the Early Childhood Investment Corporation, MCPED is one of 16 statewide recipients of a Regional Child Care Planning Project. The grant is supported by funding provided from the Michigan Department of Education utilizing American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding, the Office of Child Care, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
As a means of developing a statewide strategy that addresses the needs of families, child care providers and employers, the 16 regional coalitions will convene to share results and develop statewide solutions that may pertain to access, affordability, quality, workforce needs and more with an overall goals of addressing Michigan’s pressing need for high-quality, affordable child care.
More information about the Macomb County Child Care Coalition and access to the surveys can be found: macombgov.org/ped/macomb-county-child-care-coalition
Stevenson MADE helping to Fuel the Talent Pipeline in Macomb County
Kristina Kopp is only 17 years old, but she is already a full-time aerospace welder for UHI Group in Sterling Heights, a sheet metal components and assemblies manufacturer.
As impressive as that sounds, only a couple of years prior, Kopp didn’t even know welding existed as a career.
While a student at Stevenson MADE, a four-year program for Manufacturing, Automation and Design Engineering at Stevenson High School in Sterling Heights, Kopp and other MADE students were visited by John Hren, an aerospace welder at UHI. Hren was there to interest students in a career at UHI.
“Kristina thought I was an astronaut,” Hren said, with a smile on his face. “As was kind of expected, a lot of them were unfamiliar with the aerospace industry.”
Fast forward just a couple of years later, and Kopp is producing high-tolerance, precision-made metal ducts, also known as tubular assemblies, for airplane parts. And she is making a good wage, starting a career in a field desperate for skilled tradespeople such as her.
“I started welding in ninth grade (at Stevenson MADE),” Kopp said. “ I was kind of welding for fun for four years until John came, and then I realized there was an industry. So I started taking it more seriously when John started coming to the school.”
Kopp started working for UHI part time in January 2023. She graduated this May and was offered a full-time job in June.
Andrew Loftis, 18, another MADE graduate, took a more traditional path to his job at UHI. He started welding at MADE during lunch time and took part in welding competitions while in high school. He was a hands-on guy from the start, working on cars and helping to make repairs at his father’s lawn-care business. He started working part time at UHI in June 2022, and has been working there ever since. Like Kopp, he was hired full-time in June after high school graduation.
“Before MADE, I always wanted to go to college,” Loftis said. “I really wanted to be an engineer because I wanted to do something like building stuff. But then MADE showed me that you don’t have to go to college. That’s what it mainly taught me. I also got a lot of advice from my teachers. They helped me a lot with my career.
“The COVID years were a factor. I just didn’t like school after that. I just never wanted to be at school. The only class I really enjoyed was welding. And I realized I didn’t have to go to school to be a welder.”
“Friends are a little jealous,” Loftis added. “Most can’t say they have a job and are in their career at 17-18 years old. So that’s really cool.”
Both Kopp and Loftis are just two of the latest Fueling the Talent Pipeline success stories in Macomb County, a partnership formed between Macomb County Planning and Economic Development, local school districts, and the local manufacturing community to direct students to high-demand, well-paid jobs in manufacturing.
Howard Eisenhardt, the aerospace weld leader for UHI Group, said the partnership and Stevenson MADE have been a godsend for his company.
“It’s definitely started to fill in the gaps, our experience gap, especially in our department,” Eisenhardt said. “We have two welders who are in their sixties and another one or two in their fifties. And we’ve had a hard time filling in experienced, aerospace welders.
“We’ve looked at hundreds of resumes. We bring them in for a weld test, and you might get lucky and find one. I think this is helping the community and helping UHI. Maybe they will go back to school and further their careers as a welding inspector or an engineer. But some of the best welding inspectors or engineers are welders. And this is where they start out.”
UHI Human Resources Manager Liz Strom started with the company two years ago, and she almost immediately noticed the lack of diversity in the company’s workforce and how many employees were close to aging out and heading to retirement. She began calling the local colleges, community colleges and high schools. And she developed the partnerships that exist today.
“We were sending out ads and not getting the resumes. So we had to find people who wanted to learn it,” Strom said. “We realized we’ve got to bring them in green and teach them and train them. I learned about the MADE program and went about building up a partnership and setting up a co-op with them, along with Romeo and Center Line and started building all of that. We got involved with Manufacturing Day and just building it within the community.”
Strom said UHI has had several students serve in internships and co-ops from Romeo Community Schools, Stevenson MADE (part of the Utica Community Schools) and some from the Troy School District. Four have become employees – three from Stevenson and one from Romeo.
Kopp, who prior to entering the MADE program had thoughts of becoming a surgeon, plans on going to college but not yet. Strom said UHI offers college course reimbursement to its employees if they get a 3.5 or high grade point average in their classes. Kopp wants to spend the near term enjoying her new job.
“I shadowed before I came here, so I knew exactly how it was going to be. It’s really welcoming here. Howie, John and Liz helped me through a lot of stuff. So I had no problems, and it was exactly what I expected it to be,” Kopp said. “I really like it here. It’s a nice shop. And I like to walk around and see what the other plants are doing. (Strom said currently about 80% of UHI’s contracts are automotive, and 20% are aerospace and defense.)”
Eisenhardt said Stevenson MADE and other similar programs have made a huge difference at UHI.
“Without MADE, we would be struggling, absolutely,” he said. “Basically, we would be shorthanded and still looking to fill some empty work centers. And hopefully, it gives us an edge on our competitors.”
To learn more about Fueling the Talent Pipeline, contact Senior Outreach Specialist Jennifer Weot at Jennifer.Weot@macombgov.org.
The countdown to MFG Day Week is on
Macomb County Planning and Economic Development (MCPED) is counting down the days until the return of MFG Day Week! Running Oct. 2-6, local high school students will have the opportunity to tour advanced manufacturing facilities and learn more about the many interesting and well-paying jobs the industry has to offer.
“It’s amazing to think we have reached the 10-year milestone in our involvement with Manufacturing Day. That’s a lot of generous host sites and sponsors exposing our students to potential manufacturing careers,” said Vicky Rowinski, director of MCPED. “This year, our goal is to have 2,000 students join us from all 27 Macomb County high schools. It’s a big lift, but with our partners, host sites and sponsors, we know it’s possible. Over the last nine years, we’ve had 14,000 students participate in Manufacturing Day and we know we are making an impact on their futures.”
More than 60 host sites have joined this year’s effort, and thanks to the generous support of sponsors, the 2023 MFG Day Week promises to be the biggest one yet.
“We’ve seen real connections come out of our Manufacturing Day events,” Rowinski said. “And given current workforce challenges, like talent shortages and other issues, our program is especially relevant. We’re helping create a pipeline that can supply workers and solve real problems facing our local businesses.”
Stay tuned for pictures, behind-the-scenes content and more by following Macomb County Planning and Economic Development on Facebook and LinkedIn. And learn more about MFG Day Week, visit www.macombbusiness.com.
MiCareerQuest Southeast is back
MiCareerQuest Southeast will be returning to the Novi Suburban Collection Showplace on November 14. This is after a three year postponement due to COVID-19. Approximately 8,000 - 10,000 students will participate from Macomb, Oakland, Monroe, Wayne, Washtenaw and Livingston counties.
“Everyone I have spoken to who is familiar with this interactive career exploration event could not be more excited,” said Jennifer Weot, senior outreach specialist, Macomb County Planning and Economic Development. “I have been told it is the best day of the year for all involved, including the exhibitors. That truly says a lot about this event.”
MiCareerQuest Southeast It is the largest career exploration event in the southeast region of Michigan. The floor of Suburban Showplace will be divided into four quadrants which include hands-on exhibits in health, construction, technology and modern manufacturing. Planning is well underway with exhibitors confirming participation and planning the exhibits they will use to showcase their career paths.
For those not familiar with MiCareerQuest Southeast but who want to learn more, please consider attending the VIP gathering that will take place at the same time as the event. This is a great opportunity to see how this event is organized and it can help companies plan for 2024. Just keep in mind, the only requirement for exhibitors is that activities must be hands-on. Get in touch at MiCareerQuestSE@oakgov.com.
For more information on MiCareerQuest Southeast, watch this video from the last event in 2019 or click here.
Macomb County is fueling its own talent pipeline
The Macomb County Department of Planning and Economic Development is very pleased to announce that the County’s Human Resources department has joined our efforts to fuel the talent pipeline by getting involved in providing meaningful career exploration experiences for students and teachers.
As part of a day of professional development in advance of students beginning the new school year, we welcomed a group of 10 teachers from the Academies of Center Line 9th Grade Academy in August (pictured). With the help of our human resources professionals, we were able to describe the types of careers offered by the County for everyone with a high school diploma and beyond. This included career advancement opportunities, starting wages, benefits and perks of each department. And, in May, we welcomed students from local districts for job shadows across our departments.
The point? Macomb County is walking the walk. We've asked you to help develop your future workforce and we are too. If you’re not already involved, sign up for our Fueling the Talent Pipeline initiative here today.
