Reaching the next gen: Turning Performance

If our future is our youth, then we must get the message out that manufacturing offers an alternative career path that requires neither a four-year college degree nor staggering student debt. Unfortunately, that’s easier said than done because so many Americans still equate a manufacturing job with a gritty, dangerous, dead-end existence that doesn’t provide a decent wage or benefits.

The reality, of course, is that manufacturing careers do indeed offer competitive wages and benefits, and many jobs involve computerized processes performed in work environments that more closely resemble a clean room setting than a machine shop of old.

So, as formidable as the workforce shortage and skills gap is today, changing America’s perception of manufacturing careers is the mountain we must move first. For my part, I decided the best place to start was by writing “Finding America’s Greatest Champion,” a book that encourages our society to rethink how we perceive manufacturing careers in the United States. I also set up a nonprofit organization, ChampionNOW, to help fund the publication and dissemination of the book.

The teacher and the student. Shown is a special photo of me with my father during a conversation about my book. Image courtesy of Kelly I. Pollock

Changing America’s perception of manufacturing careers, however, will take the resources and energy of more than a passionate few to be successful. We all need to be involved to help elevate our profession — our industry.

And, of course, a little divine intervention wouldn’t hurt when you’re trying to move a mountain. One might say that’s what it took for me to meet Dennis Spaeth, the publisher and owner of this magazine. Though we had for years attended the same church, Kingswood United Methodist Church in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, he and I had never crossed paths. Then, during the spring of 2018, our church pastor, Rev. James Preston, suggested we meet. Preston knew that Spaeth was in the process of purchasing this magazine and that I was about to publish my book.

So Spaeth and I met for coffee on a Saturday morning in May 2018 in Arlington Heights, Illinois, to explore any opportunities to work together. At the time, Spaeth promised to publicize the book once it was published because, as he said, it was and continues to be such an important subject.

We met again in the fall of 2019 at the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute meeting where we collaborated on a video interview between me and a young man who was attending the event. With Spaeth behind the video camera prompting us to “just have a conversation about manufacturing careers,” I was in front of the camera talking with Noah Cantara, who at the time was a product specialist with Hyperion Materials & Technologies in Auburn Hills, Michigan.

ChampionNOW has introduced both a CNC lathe and mill to the market. Image courtesy of T. Iverson

The resulting video report, “The Millennial and the Mentor,” received a great deal of positive feedback. Seeing two different generations come together to elevate the dramatic need for young people to join the ranks of manufacturing employment is inspiring. This type of inspiration is what our industry needs to create an awakening across the country.

A short time later, I connected with Vondale Singleton, founder of C.H.A.M.P.S. Male Mentoring Program in Chicago. Singleton invited me to talk about manufacturing careers with his students, which I gladly accepted. Unfortunately, I was only able to provide one presentation before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down in-person meetings and events. I had to quickly adapt to a virtual format for speaking engagements and presentations, and that got me thinking about filming a concept class about manufacturing for Singleton’s students.