Coalition forms around auto industry
By Matthew Dembicki, Published February 3, 2010

A group of community colleges that serve the auto manufacturing industry has formed an unofficial network to exchange ideas and discuss how they can advocate for policies to support the industry.

Two-year colleges from states that serve the auto industry—from traditional car-making Midwest states, such as Michigan and Ohio, to Southern states that have seen a growth in car manufacturing, such as Tennessee and Alabama—held a summit last week prior to the American Association of Community Colleges’ (AACC) annual Workforce Development Institute (WDI) in St. Petersburg, Fla. Consultants and industry and training experts discussed topics specific to the auto industry, such as retraining displaced workers to compete in a global economy, to broader issues, such as the importance of manufacturing to innovation.

The primary goal of the network is to develop a “peer-learning” system around the auto sector to let colleges exchange ideas, said James Jacobs, president of Macomb Community College (MCC) in Michigan, who organized the summit.

“Community colleges are now sophisticated organizations that need to develop sector strategies,” Jacobs said.

Developing stronger ties with alumni is one way community colleges can link with employers in the sector or in other industries. Linda Fowler, president of the consulting firm Regionerate, noted an effort by the mayor of Youngstown, Ohio, who sought former residents of the city—who he called “alumni”—through the social media tool LinkedIn. He connected with former residents, and in one case an alumnus helped to bring a call center company in California back to Ohio.

A growing number of community colleges are connecting with alumni, but the efforts are geared mainly toward fund raising. Some colleges, such as MCC, are reaching out to alumni partly for their ties with their employers and to serve as resources for students.

“We have not appreciated that our alumni are in the community, and that we can tap them to help our students,” Jacobs said.

The colleges at the summit also discussed whether they should get more involved in broader national policy issues that affect auto manufacturing. Colleges or associations such as AACC could target specific industries and advocate for certain policies, such as supporting the production of more electric cars, Jacobs said. This would help not only the industry and create jobs, but it would help colleges better position themselves to offer training for jobs that they feel confident would exist.

“We need to have a national strategy around this, and community colleges need to be involved,” Jacobs said. “It’s a different way of thinking.”

MCC and other community colleges in auto manufacturing areas continue to offer training for traditional jobs in the industry. But they are also adjusting to other industries that require similar skills, and they helping auto suppliers switch to manufacture other products. In MCC’s service area, there’s an easy crossover of jobs with defense manufacturing. In other states, some auto part suppliers have shifted to making medical devices, while others are examining how they can produce supplies for wind turbines.

In April, the Brookings Institution—which co-sponsored the summit with the Automotive Manufacturing Technical Education Collaborative—plans to hold a meeting on metropolitan policy matters, which will include issues pertaining to the auto industry. The public policy organization wants to convey to the White House the importance of manufacturing in the U.S. and the resources that it contains. The manufacturing industry comprises about 13 percent of the Gross Domestic Product, but about 63 percent of U.S. scientists and researchers are in the manufacturing sector, said Alan Berube, senior fellow and research director of the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program.

“If we want to remain innovative, we need a manufacturing sector to spark new ideas,” he said.

Many of the auto jobs won’t return, so there should be a focus on helping dislocated workers of auto manufacturers and their suppliers shift to other industries that require similar skills, such as developing clean energy equipment, Berube said. But the auto industry will still need workers, especially when the economy rebounds and baby boomers retire, so there’s an obligation to offer training programs to instill in workers required new skills, he said.

The new network of colleges serving auto manufacturing is open to all community colleges, and it is seeking more college presidents to join. The group plans to meet again in April at the annual AACC convention in Seattle. It will then likely convene at the next WDI in January 2011.