EconAlliance once again celebrated Northern Santa Barbara County manufacturers with several activities aligned with national Manufacturing Day. Local media report from Noozhawk also brought attention to the Forum’s outcomes.

One big takeaway is the disconnect between career paths considered by students, and the option for manufacturing as a contender. Read the EconAlliance OpEd here!

Alyssa Stovall, the workforce programs manager with the Santa Barbara County Workforce Development Board, noted, ““Meetings like this where we’re bringing industry and education together are super important so that everybody’s on the same page,” Stovall said. “We can make those connections to build relationships and help our job seekers find these great opportunities that they don’t even know are available, but they’re out there.”

Nearly 100 guests attended the 2024 EconAlliance Manufacturing Forum. EconAlliance reported on a Manufacturing Skills Assessment that was completed, and the Forum keynote was the California Employment Training Panel’s Elsa Wadzinski, Senior Economic Development Specialist for Southern California. Wadzinski shared Employment Training Program information including support funding.

Dean Tom Lamica of Allan Hancock College facilitated a conversation among five manufacturers and five education/workforce professionals.

Also speaking was Fourth District Santa Barbara County Supervisor Bob Nelson, providing highlights of the new County Climate Action Plan. EconAlliance Manufacturing Co-Lead Tony Guy presented facts and figures about manufacturing.

The biggest take-away from the facilitated conversation was that manufacturing is not on the career “radar” for students, parents or career advisors, and that more outreach, information, tours, and industry/education partnering was important to ensure a manufacturing pipeline.

The EconAlliance Manufacturing Skills Assessment PowerPoint and all presentations made at the Manufacturing Forum are now available in the document Resource Library. (Scroll down on that page)