Building a Highly-Skilled Workforce

Twenty-first century, advanced manufacturing demands highly-skilled workers. And a highly-skilled workforce depends on having advanced training programs, which requires advanced curricula, capable instructors and modern facilities. Just as a business functions better when its parts are synchronized, creating a twenty-first century workforce requires collaboration and cooperation. That means students, workers, educators, business owners, administrators and their representatives must all work together. This understanding is the big, yet simple idea behind the AMERICA Works Act, the first bill I introduced in Congress.

I recently got to see this collaborative approach and the success it produces firsthand at Wheeling High School’s Manufacturing and Engineering Program.  The Wheeling High School Principal, Dr. Lazaro Lopez, and two of the program’s teachers, Michael Geist and Tom Steinbach, provided me a tour of the facility and gave me the history of the program. Now in its third year, enrollment has doubled each year, now reaching 40 students and making it the largest initiative of its kind in Illinois. The program has 50 local industry partners who help provide the hands-on professional experience and ensure that Wheeling High School is teaching the skills needed in today’s market.

I was profoundly impressed by the sophistication and the success of Wheeling’s program. Under the leadership and guidance of Dr. Lopez, Mr. Geist and Mr. Steinbach, the Manufacturing and Engineering Program has tapped into our community’s urgent need for skilled workers.  Illinois’s Tenth Congressional District is the third largest manufacturing district in the entire country, and we got there because of the hard work and skill of our innovators and workforce. Yet virtually every business I visit expresses concerns about the growing skills gap, and educators and industry leaders working together directly is our best shot at closing this gap.  

A recent University of Illinois-Chicago study found that a single Illinois manufacturing job creates additional 2.2 jobs. That’s an astounding figure, and one that illustrates how important this moment is. Unless we commit to building more partnerships between educators and businesses, we risk losing our manufacturing excellence and forfeiting our global edge. If we commit now, we can reach new levels of success, and that’s what I’m committed to working toward.

Joining me at Wheeling High School were Brian Panek, Terry Iverson and Joe Arvin—three leaders in Illinois manufacturing. I know they were just as impressed with the program as I was, and their enthusiasm is exactly how Wheeling’s program boasts 50 manufacturing partners and counting.

We need more partnerships like what Wheeling High School has built, and that's exactly what the AMERICA Works Act encourages.