The Manufacturing Institute (MI) held its first annual Workforce Summit in Cincinnati, Ohio last October. The summit focused on building partnerships and discussing the growing talent pools in the industry. Cassi Zumbiel of Envoy spoke on a panel highlighting the “hidden” talent in justice-impacted communities and how the manufacturing sector is driving new opportunities in Fair Chance employment. Additionally, the summit highlighted another leader in Fair Chance employment, JBM Packaging, whose director of human capital and culture, Valerie Plis, spoke at the summit to discuss JBM’s successes hiring individuals from non-traditional backgrounds. Other breakout sessions focused on a range of key issues, including how community members help manufacturers attract talent, how the workforce can prepare for automation, and how economic developers are now assisting in national workforce development efforts. The summit, with its theme of forging partnerships, resulted in the sharing of important resources and best practices, in addition to helping create new connections among workforce stakeholders.

To read more about the Workforce summit check out their full blog post here.

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Photos by David Bohrer / National Assoc. of Manufacturers