I first met with Bill Gaines in a conference room in Chico, California. He was showing me slides from a presentation on his efforts to improve the manufacturing industry through collaboration on challenges such as skills gaps in job candidates. It was Bill’s presentation that inspired me to launch this podcast and I’m proud to have him as my first guest.
During his presentation, I learned a lot about that collaborative effort in North State, California Grow Manufacturing. They address the needs of the industry by partnering with education and giving their constituents access to a local directory of resources. Bill had taken a career’s worth of experience and put it to work solving larger problems using tools he knew worked. It was evident this man and his co-conspirators were changing lives and the community for the better.
Manufacturers provide incredible returns to their local communities. – Bill Gaines
Before I leave you, I would like to share one other bit of information I learned from Bill, and I have frequently cited in discussions about how important U.S. manufacturers are to our communities.
Below is one of the slides from Bill’s presentation. It was commissioned in 2012 to help better communicate the direct output or net value in dollars per month that the various careers have on the local economies where they are located. Please note that at $386,600 a month manufacturing jobs are incredibly viable in a healthy economy. These figures I am told are higher in other areas of the state and maybe lower/higher elsewhere in the U.S.
The bottom line: Manufacturing jobs provide tremendous returns to our communities.
Applied Economics, Inc. Compiled circa 2012, California North State