Local manufacturers discussed the challenges facing their industry, especially workforce development issues, and sought solutions during a meeting Tuesday with Keene Mayor George Hansel and state officials.
During the 90-minute event at the Keene State College Alumni Center, representatives from more than a dozen Monadnock Region manufacturing firms shared their struggles recruiting and retaining employees.
Organized by the college and the New Hampshire Manufacturing Extension Partnership, “Building the Pipeline: A discussion on the manufacturing workforce in the Monadnock Region,” kicked off with an open discussion of the industry’s needs followed by a presentation from panelists focused on solutions.
Ken Abbott, president of AB Tech Manufacturing in Fitzwilliam, said his small company of about 25 employees has the biggest backlog it has ever had. AB Tech, which builds various motion systems such as rotary tables and linear slides, could quickly double its revenues, Abbott said, but would need about 10 new employees.
“Where are more of those types of people that have this mechanical aptitude and interest in how things are made but just don’t know what any of us do?” he said.
Abbott described a need for the manufacturing industry to market itself to area residents — especially middle school and high school students — to create a pipeline of workers interested in the industry.
Like many of the other business leaders in attendance, Abbott also said his company has had challenges recruiting employees from out of state due to the limited housing market. AB Tech missed out on an opportunity to hire a “very high-level controls engineer” from Virginia after the recruit backed out because she couldn’t find housing, he said.
Matt Zabko, a manager at the Spectral Systems, which has a plant in Jaffrey, described a similar problem. Many employees at Spectral Systems, which produces infrared optical components, are driving almost two hours from Massachusetts or Vermont every day because they cannot find housing in the area, Zabko said.
Others, like Molly Webster, a human resource manager at N.H. Ball Bearings in Peterborough, said the availability of child care and flexible schedules for employees, especially women, with children has also affected the industry’s ability to recruit employees.
Webster said the industry should seek to highlight how young employees, particularly college students, can work their way up through the ranks and find long-term career opportunities in manufacturing in New Hampshire.
“I think that there is sometimes a stigma with manufacturing, that it’s a minimum wage thing, that it is a dead-end job,” she said. “That is not true. We have career opportunities. You can grow. There is unlimited potential around here.”
Those who get started in an entry level position can work their way into general manager and regional vice president positions, Webster said. She added that, when marketing itself, the industry should seek to tell the stories of senior leaders who have been promoted from the bottom up.
Hansel, who is also a vice president and owner of Filtrine, a Keene-based company that produces water purification systems, said the manufacturing industry needs to collaborate to overcome challenges.
“We need to do better in a lot of these different areas because we just can’t afford to sit back and be passive,” he said.
The manufacturing industry represents more than 15 percent of the state’s economy, but recent hiring and recruitment trends are unsustainable, Hansel said. Building bridges between the industry and high school and college education in the state is one area for improvement, he said.
Dan Belluscio, a director of supply chain operations at Markem-Imaje Corp. in Keene said in his experience Keene State students who have had local internships in manufacturing are more likely to continue working in the state after college. He suggested the college make internships a curriculum requirement of the engineering program.
After manufacturers shared their workforce challenges, several state officials, as well as representatives of Southern New Hampshire Services, presented programs that could help companies hire and retain employees.
Katrina Murray of SNHS said the nonprofit can connect New Hampshire residents with fuel assistance, childcare and other needs in order to help them find employment. SNHS, which serves Hillsborough and Rockingham Counties, also hosts workforce sessions that aim to inform job seekers about the different career paths available, she said.
“If you’ve not been exposed to manufacturing in high school or outside of your home, you might not ever think that manufacturing is the way to go in a career,” Murray said. “So, for us it’s very important that we’re exposing our own staff as well as our participants to what manufacturing is.”
She encouraged manufacturers to reach out to SNHS to share their perspectives and noted the example of one young woman with a three-year-old son who found her way into the manufacturing industry through a workforce session.
Jimmie Hinson, a workforce development administrator with the N.H. Department of Business and Economic Affairs, said the manufacturing industry should be recruiting adults as well as high school and college students.
“As you are looking at the recruitment process you have to really look at those adults, you have to look at the youth, you have to look at the seniors.” he said. “You cannot afford to leave anybody out.”
Building strong relationships through introducing training and mentorship programs within a company can build a culture that can help retain employees, Hinson said. The business and economic affairs department offers programs that can help train existing employees as well as residents who have been recently laid off in another industry, he said.
Hinson added that manufacturers should focus on building existing relationships in the community in addition to recruiting workers from outside the state.
“It really does boil down to training and relationships,” he said.
Hansel said the industry needs “a core group of manufacturers” discussing and collaborating on these issues on a regular basis. He said he hopes to hold similar events in the near future.
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