Dave,

What about those not going to college?

It’s true that K-12 have not been taking the science/engineering path.  It’s perceived to be too hard for most.  Since I was an engineering undergrad a few centuries ago, I can understand the frustration.  I mean, who wants to do all that work if they can have it easier and make more money?  Okay, moving into an executive role later may help if you are interested in making money or making more of a contribution in your work.  Some aren’t.

Most parents are just happy to have their kids going to college.  And most of the HS programs are geared to do just that.  And I do not begrudge them that.

I’m a Manufacturing executive at  Focused Solutions Group.  Do you know about http://ratzenberger.com/manufacturing.php or http://www.nutsandboltsfoundation.org?

The HS guidance teachers are so focused on getting kids into college that kids who are not going to college get forgotten about.  Meanwhile there are some fairly decent paying jobs in manufacturing these days, especially for operating some of the computerized equipment we use these days.

So back to my original question: What about those not going to college?  We need every Guidance counselor to realize whether or not they make their goal of 95% going to college, they need to guide 100% of the students to be the best they can be (no disrespect to most GCs).  And if we want to keep Manufacturing in the US (and I think we need to, but that’s a much longer discussion), we need to help those kids get properly trained to handle today’s manufacturing jobs.

I am also active in Manufacturing networks in New Jersey and I can tell you that my fellow small business owners lament the lack of quality help and vocational education every day.  Many state and county governments are not doing it well.  Pennsylvania does have a nice program, though.

I would like to see every child go to college.  And most into the sciences.  But that’s not practical.  So I’m talking about a path for those who don’t.  Perhaps we need some breadcrumbs to make that path more clear.

Regards,

Tom Smith
tom@fsgnj.com
www.fsgnj.com

Manufacturing has been the primary focus of my career.  Sure there was engineering, design, installation and service, but manufacturing was always the core process.  Over the years this background has served me well.  For the last 20 years, the management roles have enabled me to mentor and develop others.  My depth in the manufacturing details that has enabled me to excel in this area.

Many in New Jersey lament the decline of the manufacturing base.  It’s true that about half of the manufacturing jobs have disappeared over the last 20 years.  That’s about 270,000 jobs!  (source BLS/SAE data www.bls.gov/sae/)  At the same time inflation rose 65% and the productivity roughly doubled in current dollars so NJ’s real manufacturing base declined roughly by inflation.

Labor costs and the cost of doing business in NJ are factors, of course.   This is the point.  We should use NJ’s skilled worker knowledge base to the fullest!  Germany has been doing this for years.  NJ has over 500 incubator companies, all trying to develop products and ideas.  One aspect of my business is helping connect those companies with ideas and no products with the folks that make the products.  We also provide other product development services.  See www.fsgnj.com.  I’ve found many NJ firms often make the prototypes in a short time and at a low cost.  Once the product has been developed, and a prototype proven out, it often makes sense to move production to a lower cost labor area.  I tell clients: “That’s fine.  Move on to make the next prototype!”.

In my opinion, New Jersey is moving toward a “prototyping market” as small companies connect with manufacturers who need to have work that justifies their high costs.  For my interim assignments, my targets are larger revenue generating companies, but product development is a passion of mine.  And I’m proud to leverage my network to help this effort.

Tom Smith