To help deliver a truly sustainable advanced manufacturing workforce pipeline, the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing (CCAM) has begun construction of a new apprentice academy and recently launched a new academy Web site.
In March of 2017, Forbes remarked 3.5 million manufacturing jobs will be needed in the next decade. Retirees and outsourcing have left America with a glaring need: a skilled advanced manufacturing workforce. Recently, CCAM was awarded a total of $12.65 million to begin the construction of its Advanced Manufacturing Apprentice Academy on the same campus as CCAM, in Prince George County, VA.
"Advanced manufacturing is an opportunity to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S.," says Kelly Marchese, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP and federal supply chain leader. "To realize that goal, we will need both public and private organizations' commitment to apprenticeship programs such as CCAM to develop the much-needed skilled workforce. This is the inflection point - we cannot blink." Marchese worked with CCAM to develop their apprentice academy strategic plan.
The CCAM Apprentice Academy will galvanize leaders from industry, academia, and government to build a bridge that brings people into the advanced manufacturing workforce.
Potential employers will have direct involvement in the training process leading to an organic opportunity for long-term job placement. Each student is paired with an employer sponsor upon entering the academy, with goal of transitioning apprentices into full-time positions at those companies when their training is complete.