By Reynolds Hutchins
reynolds.hutchins@insidebiz.com
ECPI University in Virginia Beach wants to reveal the "truth" about manufacturing jobs.
The fact that manufacturing jobs are not the dirty, dingy, dead-end jobs they're now recognized as has been a frequent refrain in the business sector.
But the private, for-profit school based in Virginia Beach that awards associate, baccalaureate and master degrees and diploma programs is among those that continue to work to change that.
Today, more students than ever are choosing to pursue technical and service degrees at two-year colleges, but there remain an estimated 600,000 technical jobs waiting to be filled just in the U.S.
The old myths continue to live on, said ECPI's Virginia Beach Campus President Kevin Paveglio.
"Young people continue to believe in the old paradigm," he said.
But, he added, "if they see and understand what modern manufacturing really looks like today, it will no doubt cause them to take a second look at these significant career opportunities."
That's the aim of Paveglio and ECPI for the school's first Manufacturing Day on Oct. 3.
The expo, which is open to the public, aims to demonstrate how manufacturing, especially American manufacturing, has evolved into a highly technical and attractive career path for prospective students.
ECPI University hosts annual career fairs at each of its campuses. But MFG Day, event organizers said, is looking to set itself apart as an entirely different experience.
MFG Day is a national initiative sponsored by a slew of industry sponsors and co-producers to amplify the voice of individual manufacturers and coordinate their message of common concerns and challenges.
On Friday, ECPI officials estimate about 1,100 MFG Days will be hosted on warehouse floors and in company stores across the nation.
But, ECPI, as an educational institution, hopes to have something different on tap.
Event organizers promise it won't be the typical career fair, with cardboard triptychs and recruiters.
Major manufacturers - including Mitsubishi Chemical, Texas Instruments and Anheuser Busch - will be exhibiting robotics, automated devices, replicators and game-changing technology.
It's important for students to have a hands-on experience, said ECPI business development specialist Paul Dockery, to convince them that everything they thought they knew about manufacturing is simply not true.
"People, when they think about manufacturing, they think about dark, dirty, dingy types of environments," Dockery said. "But look at places like Stihl. It's one of the most highly automated and advanced manufacturers in this area."
According to Dockery, it's that perception that has created the oft-discussed skills gap in the American job market.
Initiatives like ECPI's MFG Day hope to reverse that, but event organizers recognize they face an uphill battle.
In the past five years, more students have opted for two-year degrees over typical four-year institutions.
The latest numbers show national college enrollment figures have dropped in recent years while enrollment in community and two-year institutions are on a rise.
The reason?
"The cost," said Robert Archibald, chancellor professor of economics at the College of William and Mary.
According to Archibald, it's not an interest in manufacturing but a severe and sudden disenchantment with the conventional four-year college system that has most prospective students looking for a more financially secure track.
"The cost of higher education is deterring more and more students away from four-year colleges," Archibald said.
That's not good news for Archibald's William and Mary, but it is for ECPI.
"We are noticing a difference," Dockery said. But, he said, "we're not discouraging people from going to college. We're here to show there is a career in this field."
That's the mission of Manufacturing Day, Dockery said. Not to shut down any career paths, but to open up many more.
ECPI's Manufacturing Day Expo will be open Friday from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. at ECPI's Virginia Beach campus at 5555 Greenwich Road in Virginia Beach.