 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
| Heroes MAKE America Graduates Soldiers into Manufacturing |
|
 |
|
| Click the image above to watch a recap of the graduation.
|
|
|
|
| Leading to Meet Manufacturers’ Workforce Needs |
|
| The National Association of Manufacturers’ (NAM) Manufacturing Institute is moving aggressively forward to bolster the ways it supports manufacturers’ workforce needs. In January, the Institute launched Heroes MAKE America in Fort Riley, Kansas, where it inaugurated the first class of 13 soldiers seeking to transition to civilian life. In the 10 weeks that had passed, those soldiers received career training in everything from résumé writing, to social media management, to personal finance. They’ve participated in a range of networking opportunities, facility tours, job interviews and assessments. At the end, they earned 14 college credits and nine industry certifications—along with more than 50 job interviews and nearly a dozen job offers—and by the time of their graduation, about half of the graduates had received a job offer they planned to accept already.
|
|
 |
|
| Innovating a Program That Works for Manufacturers and America |
|
| Every year, more than 200,000 U.S. service members return to civilian life. Heroes MAKE America is an approved career skills program by the U.S. Army Soldier for Life Transition Assistance Program, and is designed to connect manufacturers to these highly qualified veteran candidates and give those veterans the tools and training they need to not only find a perfect manufacturing job but excel in it. The program has already secured the support of sponsors the Arconic Foundation, the Walmart Foundation and Parker Hannifin Corporation, as well as manufacturing partners Amarr Entrematic, Arconic Aerospace Center, Berry Global, BNSF Railroad, Cargill Protein, Caterpillar, Florence Corporation, Georgia-Pacific, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Hallmark Cards, Hormel Foods Corporation, Koch Industries, Manko Windows, Mars Chocolate North America, Orbital ATK, Smithfield Foods, Spirit AeroSystems, The J.M. Smucker Company and the Kansas Chamber of Commerce & Industry. Program partners at Fort Riley include USO Pathfinder Program, KansasWorks, Kansas State University and our education provider, Washburn Institute of Technology. This program is a low-cost, high-impact way to give the soldiers the in-demand skills they need to begin their manufacturing career before they have fully transitioned from the Army.
|
|
 |
|
|
|
| Building a Movement |
|
| Not only does The Manufacturing Institute plan to run the Heroes program four times a year at Fort Riley moving forward, but—as I announced at last week’s event—this summer, the Institute will be expanding the opportunities of the Heroes program by launching at Fort Hood in Texas thanks to the support of manufacturing leaders like you to fund important programs like this.
|
|
 |
|
| To learn more about how manufacturers and foundations can support Heroes MAKE America, contact Manufacturing Institute Executive Director Carolyn Lee at (202) 637-3079 or NAM Senior Vice President of Membership and Strategic Development Jeff Pierce at (773) 243-8310.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Connect with the Manufacturers |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Questions or Comments? |
|
|
|
|
|
|
