Manufacturing jobs, training could aid West, South sides
In Maudlyne Ihejirika’s article titled “Chicago needs urban renewal not tweets” ( Feb. 7), she reports that Austin area community leaders urged the president to focus his attention, and a healthy chunk of resources, on poverty eradication and jobs rather than on rhetoric. This group, citing a recent study on violence and poverty in the African- American community from University of Illinois at Chicago researchers, pointed out that the root cause of the violence plaguing communities like Austin is a tragic lack of an educational infrastructure linked to jobs and economic opportunity.
We agree. There needs to be real investment in a robust workforce and jobs development initiative. It is also important that we fill the vacant jobs that already exist as we fight for more. Many people believe high- paying manufacturing jobs have completely disappeared. Not quite true. In fact, there are nearly 15,000 current vacancies in advanced manufacturing jobs in Chicagoland and over 400 in Austin alone. The National Association of Manufacturers projects that in just 10 years there will be 3 million vacancies in the advanced manufacturing segment.
The problem is that the current available training is insufficient to prepare people to get these jobs which pay, on average, $ 70,000 including benefits. There are only a few hundred people in the education and training pipeline throughout Cook County and it isn’t because the course work or requirements to get into a program are onerous. Pass a ninthgrade math test and be drug free, and in just 20 weeks anyone can have industry recognized certifications allowing them to march into nearly any manufacturing shop and get hired.
We would suggest that the community demand a real investment in this kind of training and education linked to the opportunities in manufacturing. Want to solve inner- city violence, shrink the income inequality gap while preserving the local tax base? Invest in advanced manufacturing training and job placement.
Dan Swinney, executive director, Manufacturing Renaissance, Chicago
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